Politicians finally get it right on sexual assault reporting, hush money

It often seems like the politicians just don’t listen to us. They are tone-deaf to the desires of their constituents. But sometimes, our outcry can make a difference. That seems to be the case with our elected officials in both Madison and in Washington. Two recent examples both deal with how the politicians handle allegations of sexual misconduct. In Madison, Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling of La Crosse is now willing to do an about face, and release reports of sexual harassment against members of the legislature or their staffs. For weeks, Shilling has insisted that sweeping the incidents under the rug was the best way to ensure victims privacy is protected. But as we pointed out, names of victims can be easily redacted while still informing the public about our lawmakers behaving badly. Meanwhile in D.C., House Speaker Paul Ryan insists current rules allowing members of Congress who settle sexual misconduct claims to do so with taxpayer dollars will be changed. Ryan correctly calls the current policy indefensible. It was disappointing our elected officials would seemingly prefer to keep us in the dark about the behavior of our politicians, and when they mess up, use our money to cover their tracks. But it is good they finally listened to the voters on this one.