In the last few weeks, the skeletons began coming out of the Legislature’s closet – haunting stories of harassment of women working in and around California’s Capitol and scarier claims that the Legislature swept those reports under the rug. The claims are still allegations – not reported or investigated because the women feared retaliation.

The Sacramento Bee reported a spooky aspect of the story today: Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez has introduced a bill in each of the past four years, creating whistleblower protections for employees of the Legislature “similar to those afforded to other state employees, including civil and criminal liability for retaliation. … every year, the bill has received unanimous support in the Assembly and then died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.” Melendez’s bill, like many others, never emerged, in any of the four years, from the Committee’s “suspense file.”

For more on the stream of sexual assault and harassment stories coming out of the Capitol community: Hit by sexual harassment and assault reports, will Capitol make changes?