Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Photo by Rick Kopstein Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Photo by Rick Kopstein

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo floated the idea of limiting the ability of publicly traded companies and government entities to secretly settle sexual harassment allegations.

During a conference call with reporters Wednesday afternoon, the Democratic governor said he would be proposing a legislative package on the subject of sexual harassment during his upcoming state address on Jan. 3. While details from the governor were scarce, Cuomo floated the possibility of having publicly traded companies disclose sexual harassment settlements to shareholders.

“You have all sorts of settlements made on the proviso that nobody says anything about it and the woman has to agree to confidentiality and then it's paid for by funds that come from other than the perpetrator,” Cuomo said during the conference call. “In the case of corporate America, if it's a public company, the shareholders pay. If it's in the case of the U.S. Congress, the taxpayers pay. Why? Why? Why should you use a shareholder's money? Why should you use taxpayer's money to cover up a wrong, to compensate for a wrong, and then not disclose it and to gag the woman? So that's part of the problem that we're trying to grapple with and we want to address in the State of the State.”