Katie Brennan, the woman who accused a colleague of raping her two and a half years ago before the alleged offender joined Gov. Phil Murphy's administration, said she's "grateful" for a package of advancing bills meant to help prevent sexual misconduct in state government and administrations in transition.

Brennan was working on the Murphy for Governor campaign in April 2017 when she said fellow campaign worker, Albert Alvarez, raped her following an event.

"I am grateful to the senators for their commitment to reform," Brennan said in a recent email to the Law Journal. "These measures are a welcome first step, I look forward to their enactment as law, and for additional future legislative reform."

"There remains more to be done to be sure everyone can fully participate in the political process including gubernatorial transitions," Brennan said.

The bills, five in all, were passed Dec. 16 by the Senate after sailing through the Assembly in June. Sponsors say they are intended to reflect the recommendations by the Legislative Select Oversight Committee's report made public last summer on ensuring a safe workplace, strengthening employer training and hiring practices, and changing how allegations of sexual misconduct are investigated, among other safeguards,

Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, and Sen. Kristin Corrado, R-Bergen, are the primary sponsors. One of the five bills, S-3983, lists Weinberg as the sole sponsor.

Also, on Monday, Weinberg announced she would be forming an ad hoc committee to investigate what she said is the prevailing hostile work environment for women in state politics. The move came in response to a Dec. 29 Star-Ledger/nj.com report that detailed instances of misconduct through the eyes of nearly two dozen women who had experienced sexual harassment and assault on the job.

"I was saddened and disheartened to read yesterday's front page of the Star-Ledger which detailed interviews with 20 women who told of being groped, propositioned, harassed and even sexually assaulted while serving as campaign staffers, political operatives, legislators and lobbyists," Weinberg said in a statement when the committee was announced.

The Assembly versions of the Weinberg-Corrado bills were passed by the full Assembly on June 20.

The package now awaits Murphy's signature to become law.

The governor's office had no comment on whether Murphy would sign the bills as they are.

Here are the bills that passed the Senate unanimously Dec. 16:

• S-3975/A-5624 would require the chairperson of the Civil Service Commission to designate a civil service-based human resource professional to serve as "Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Officer" for gubernatorial transitions.

• S-3976/A-5625 would amend the Gubernatorial Transition Act to authorize payment of expenses related to confidential character, financial, and criminal background investigations of applicants for positions of a lower rank than cabinet-level when deemed necessary by the governor-elect or the governor-elect's designated assistant.

• S-3979/A-5628 would require the Civil Service Commission to promulgate rules and regulations concerning record-keeping and record retention requirements related to the recruitment, selection, hiring, and employment records of persons in the state unclassified service.

• S-3982/A-5631 would specify certain requirements that must be included in the rules governing a state agency's review of equal employment and discrimination complaints.

• S-3983/A-5632 would require the Civil Service Commission to ensure that all state employees responsible for managing and investigating complaints of harassment or discrimination receive additional training by the state attorney general's Advocacy Institute or another organization with expertise in sexual violence.

The bills resulted from the LSOC's five-month investigation that found systematic failures in the Murphy administration's handling of Brennan's allegations and the governor's hiring practices, as well as a misinterpretation of the law regarding sexual assault.

Alvarez, following the alleged assault, went on to land a top job paying $140,000 a year with the New Jersey Schools Development Authority after Murphy became governor, though he was forced to resign after Brennan's allegations exploded into the limelight.

"The hiring of Al Alvarez was the result of inexperience and the indefensible disregard for a survivor and her credible allegations of sexual assault," Weinberg, a Democrat who serves as Senate majority leader, said in a statement. "And even today, there are still many unanswered questions about how the campaign treated their female employees.

"However, I am grateful to my colleagues in both houses and on both sides of the aisle for their survivor-centered approach and their support for this legislation that will improve future hiring practices, regardless of the candidate or party," added Weinberg.

The governor's office declined to comment on Weinberg's assessment of the administration's hiring of Alvarez and handling of Brennan's rape allegation against him.

Brennan, 32, who became chief of staff to the Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency after Murphy was sworn in as New Jersey's 56th governor, filed a civil suit last Jan. 7 in Mercer County Superior Court against the state and Alvarez. The suit is seeking damages and an emergent application to rewrite the state's policies and practices concerning the conduct of confidential workplace investigations.

"We welcome all reform, including legislative reform, that strengthens protections for employees in the workplace and encourages victims of workplace harassment, discrimination, assault and retaliation to come forward without fear of retribution or being silenced," Brennan's attorney, Katy McClure of Smith Eibeler in Holmdel, said of the Weinberg-Corrado bills.

Alvarez has not been criminally charged. In December 2017, eight months after the alleged rape, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office announced it would not seek charges because of "a lack of credible evidence and corroboration." The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office came to a similar conclusion.

Alvarez has continued to deny all of Brennan's allegations.

When the scathing 119-page report by the LSOC became public June 5, Alvarez's attorney, Ruby Kumar-Thompson of Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs in Oakland, issued a statement regarding the allegations against her client.

"As a result of plaintiff's bad faith actions to destroy defendants' reputation solely to further her own career goals, and due to her false allegations of sexual assault against defendant, defendant has not been able to obtain steady employment or to adequately provide for his family since his resignation from the Schools Development Authority and will continue to have difficulty in obtaining gainful permanent employment in the future," Kumar-Thompson said then.

In response to the Weinberg-Corrado bills, Kumar-Thompson said in a phone interview that since the case remains in litigation and due to the holidays, she hasn't had sufficient time to review them and has no comment at this time. However, she questioned why her client was cited in statements by lawmakers as the impetus for the bills when Alvarez has denied any wrongdoing.

Kumar-Thompson confirmed both sides received a standard mediation referral order in November from the court to meet at a future date to try and resolve their differences before a court-appointed mediator as opposed to continuing litigation. She said a date for such a meeting has yet to be scheduled.