BUFFALO, N.Y. — Believe it or not, state Senator Tim Kennedy, D-Buffalo, said there's nothing in New York's Public Officers Law that expressly prohibits sexual harassment by elected officials or other government employees. 

"There are executive orders and there are regulations in place but nothing in the law specifically under the Public Officers Law," he said.

Kennedy is sponsoring legislation to codify that prohibition and institute civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.

"Quite frankly, I want it to be even stronger than that. We felt that that was a good starting point," he said.

The bill is part of a package of bills the state senator said he's supporting this year, all aimed at addressing sexual harassment.

"We're taking a step forward to send a message that this unacceptable behavior of sexual harassment needs to be dealt with aggressively, swiftly, and we need to make sure that we have the victim's best interest in mind when dealing with these issues," Kennedy said.

Democrat Monica Wallace pointed out many legislators have been brainstorming and putting forth their own solutions to deal with sexual harassment. She has been appointed to a newly-created Assembly work group that's planning to look at the issue holistically and craft policy recommendations.

"This work group isn't necessarily predisposed to any kind of specific changes. We're coming together to learn, to discuss ideas and to move forward with what we think is the best policy for New York State," Wallace said.

She said the workgroup plans to hear not just from legislators but people dealing with sexual harassment in the community including employers, victims and their advocates.

"Are these even legislative changes that need to be done in the first place, right? We have laws that protect victims, but for some reason they're not working," Wallace said.

She said this working group will try to understand why that is.