Has Colorado taxpayer money ever been used to settle workplace harassment claims against the General Assembly? No. Could it? Probably not.

Director of the Office of Legislative Legal Services Sharon Eubanks, who is a lawyer, told legislators at a committee meeting that legislative counsel expenditures are looked at by the comptroller and approved before they are entered into the state system, and there’s also an annual audit of all money spent.

“In terms of these monies, whether they could be used as monetary settlements – threatened or actual harassment claims – there are a couple of different options,” Eubanks said.

There could be a monetary settlement of a pending action against the General Assembly or an individual lawmaker, she said, depending on Legal Services or if they’ve retained counsel.

“And just because Legal Services has retained counsel to pay for legal expenses, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s an agreement,” Eubanks said. “There would need to be approval.”

Legal Services does have an amount for legal fees, she said, but “to date, there have been no actions involving workplace harassment, that we could find, and no settlements made.”

If it’s found the legislature’s harassment policy has been violated and disciplinary action is taken, that person has no authority to make monetary settlements using public funds and also does not have access to those funds, Eubanks said.

“That person, whether in the House or the Senate, may try to submit something to the chief clerk or to the secretary of the Senate,” she said, “and you can imagine what public reaction might be.”

The discussion comes after it was reported recently that members of Congress legally tapped taxpayer money to settle harassment claims. Colorado Rep. Cory Gardner, a Republican from Yuma, last week signed onto a bill that would prevent prevent that.

The Executive Committee of the Legislative Council voted Friday to work with the Office of Legislative Legal Services to hire an independent human resources professional that would act as a gate-keeper in handling all complains of workplace harassment.