ENDA Vote coming soon, the House, BFrank. How about the Senate?
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ENDA House Vote 'Coming Soon' Says Barney Frank - What About Senate Support?
posted by: Steve Williams 22 hours ago
Following a speaking engagement at a Victory Fund brunch, Representative Barney Frank indicated on Sunday that a markup on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, will occur "this week or next week" and that a full House vote on ENDA will happen soon with the requisite number of votes apparentlyclose at hand. This leaves us to ask what is the current landscape of support like for ENDA in the Senate?
Firstly, on the House vote, word comes from Metro Weekly:
Why is ENDA Necessary?
In 29 states it is still legal to fire someone based on their sexual orientation. In 38 states it is still legal to terminate employment based on a person's gender identity. ENDA could change that.
Current federal employment discrimination protections cover race, religion, sex, national origin, age and disability. ENDA would add sexual orientation and gender identity to that list. As such, ENDA would prohibit public and private employers, employment agencies and labor unions from using a person's perceived or actual sexuality or gender identity as a reason to fire them or to not promote them, or as the basis of making other employment related decisions.
However, the bill exempts businesses with fewer than 15 employees, as well as religious institutions. This change will not apply to uniformed officers in the military and it will not be applied retroactively.
For more information on the bill, please click here.
It is worth noting that the gender identity provisions in the House version of the bill have reportedly been modified. The exact details of these changes are not yet known, but in a recent interview Rep. Frank said the following:
Support in the House and Senate
According to the website Library of Congress, there are currently 199 co-sponsors of the House version of the bill, while the Inclusive ENDA Facebook Campaign has a whip count estimate of 221 likely or confirmed "Yes" votes. 216 votes are needed for a majority, so it seems quite probable that the votes are indeed there to pass ENDA in the House.
However, the LGBTQ website Bilerico has a list of 13 likely Democratic legislators who have yet to confirm their stance on the bill one way or the other. Readers who support the legislation might like to check out that list which includes Representatives from Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. You can find out more information by going here.
The question is, can ENDA get through the Senate where it has previously failed?
The bill is currently in the hands of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Due to the Democratic majority, the bill is expected to pass to the floor with little difficulty.
When ENDA does go to the Senate floor it seems prudent to assume that it will require a 60-vote majority to pass rather than a standard 50 in order to overcome a Republican filibuster. Current information states that the Senate bill (S.1584) stands at 45 co-sponsors plus the bill's original sponsor Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Or.) bringing the total to 46.
The inclusive ENDA Facebook campaign has a further five votes noted on its Senate whip count spreadsheet where it says that there are 51 confirmed "Yes" votes based on information passed on by senators to constituents over the last few months. This figure is supported by the Act on Principles public whip count that can be found here.
The majority of those who have refused to commit to a "Yes" vote on ENDA are Republican senators. In fact, only two Republicans have chosen to co-sponsor the bill, those being Maine senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. However, "Yes" votes may be forthcoming from senators such as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) who has previously shown support for LGBT rights legislation, including voting for the hate crimes bill. Similarly, Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) has been highlighted as another possibility for the same reasons.
Other Republican names that have been suggested are George Voinovich (Ohio), Robert Bennett (Utah), Scott Brown (Mass.), and Judd Gregg (New Hamp.) However, it appears likely that a majority of Republican senators will choose to vote "No" on the bill.
Therefore, securing the support of at least some of the remaining Democratic senators that have not co-sponsored the bill will be a vital step in increasing the chances of passing ENDA in the Senate. As it stands, the following Democratic senators have not yet committed to a "Yes" vote:
For contact information regarding the above senators, please go here.
It seems clear that passing ENDA in the Senate will be an uphill struggle. Based on these figures, it does seem that passage is possible and it is worth noting that the chances of success would most likely be increased if the bill was attached to another piece of legislation, however, advocates are mindful that they are up against the clock due to the widely expected reduction of the Democratic majority in the Senate come the November elections. As such, it seems vital that legislators hear from their constituents regarding ENDA as soon as possible, especially given the campaign of misinformation that has been started against ENDA by some so-called "traditional value" groups.
If you would like to contact your legislators regarding ENDA, the HRC has an email form that is already written for you (you could also use the text of the email for lobbying your senators too) that you can customize and send. To take a look, please go here.
Alternatively, the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce has an entire page dedicated to what they call an ENDA toolkit with resources you need to get the word out about ENDA. To find out more, please go here.
Further Information and Resources:
Related Reading:
(Finally, a big thanks to Dr. Jillian T. Weiss and all those at the Facebook Inclusive ENDA project for creating and providing the terrific Facebook group resources.)
Firstly, on the House vote, word comes from Metro Weekly:
Frank, speaking to Metro Weekly after his appearance at the Victory Fund's annual Champagne Brunch, said the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) – currently in the House Education and Labor Committee – has been ''promised'' a quick vote in the full House by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) once the bill leaves committee.
Noting that he's been speaking to Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) ''constantly,'' Frank said of the ENDA mark-up, ''It will be this week or next week.''
As both he and Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) have said previously, Frank reiterated that he expected a floor vote to follow the expected committee passage in short order. ''The speaker has promised that,'' Frank said. ''We will get this done fairly quickly.''
Why is ENDA Necessary?
In 29 states it is still legal to fire someone based on their sexual orientation. In 38 states it is still legal to terminate employment based on a person's gender identity. ENDA could change that.
Current federal employment discrimination protections cover race, religion, sex, national origin, age and disability. ENDA would add sexual orientation and gender identity to that list. As such, ENDA would prohibit public and private employers, employment agencies and labor unions from using a person's perceived or actual sexuality or gender identity as a reason to fire them or to not promote them, or as the basis of making other employment related decisions.
However, the bill exempts businesses with fewer than 15 employees, as well as religious institutions. This change will not apply to uniformed officers in the military and it will not be applied retroactively.
For more information on the bill, please click here.
It is worth noting that the gender identity provisions in the House version of the bill have reportedly been modified. The exact details of these changes are not yet known, but in a recent interview Rep. Frank said the following:
Any changes to trans-inclusion is an obvious red flag for many activists who will recall that, in 2007, the bill was stripped of its gender identity provisions. That version of the bill died and it was vowed that, from that point on, only a fully trans-inclusive bill would do. We wait to see, then, what shape the House version of the bill is in when the text is made public in the next week or so.“Essentially, there are full protections for people who are transgender with a couple of provisos: One – the employer can ask for a gender consistent dress code. No mustaches and dresses. Two – people with one set of genitals do not have a legal right to get naked in front of the other set, is the basic way to put it. Some accommodation has to be made there.If you insist on the right for unrestricted access to bathrooms – we lose. And we’re making some accommodations here. And we worked it out with the transgender community. We had people very upset when we raised it – it [became] clear we couldn’t pass the bill without it.”
Support in the House and Senate
According to the website Library of Congress, there are currently 199 co-sponsors of the House version of the bill, while the Inclusive ENDA Facebook Campaign has a whip count estimate of 221 likely or confirmed "Yes" votes. 216 votes are needed for a majority, so it seems quite probable that the votes are indeed there to pass ENDA in the House.
However, the LGBTQ website Bilerico has a list of 13 likely Democratic legislators who have yet to confirm their stance on the bill one way or the other. Readers who support the legislation might like to check out that list which includes Representatives from Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. You can find out more information by going here.
The question is, can ENDA get through the Senate where it has previously failed?
The bill is currently in the hands of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Due to the Democratic majority, the bill is expected to pass to the floor with little difficulty.
When ENDA does go to the Senate floor it seems prudent to assume that it will require a 60-vote majority to pass rather than a standard 50 in order to overcome a Republican filibuster. Current information states that the Senate bill (S.1584) stands at 45 co-sponsors plus the bill's original sponsor Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Or.) bringing the total to 46.
The inclusive ENDA Facebook campaign has a further five votes noted on its Senate whip count spreadsheet where it says that there are 51 confirmed "Yes" votes based on information passed on by senators to constituents over the last few months. This figure is supported by the Act on Principles public whip count that can be found here.
The majority of those who have refused to commit to a "Yes" vote on ENDA are Republican senators. In fact, only two Republicans have chosen to co-sponsor the bill, those being Maine senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. However, "Yes" votes may be forthcoming from senators such as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) who has previously shown support for LGBT rights legislation, including voting for the hate crimes bill. Similarly, Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) has been highlighted as another possibility for the same reasons.
Other Republican names that have been suggested are George Voinovich (Ohio), Robert Bennett (Utah), Scott Brown (Mass.), and Judd Gregg (New Hamp.) However, it appears likely that a majority of Republican senators will choose to vote "No" on the bill.
Therefore, securing the support of at least some of the remaining Democratic senators that have not co-sponsored the bill will be a vital step in increasing the chances of passing ENDA in the Senate. As it stands, the following Democratic senators have not yet committed to a "Yes" vote:
- Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
- Bill Nelson (D-FL)
- Evan Bayh (D-IN)
- Kay Hagan (D-NC)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Robert C. Byrd (D-WV)
- Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
- Tom Carper (D-DE)
- Mark L. Pryor (D-AR)
For contact information regarding the above senators, please go here.
It seems clear that passing ENDA in the Senate will be an uphill struggle. Based on these figures, it does seem that passage is possible and it is worth noting that the chances of success would most likely be increased if the bill was attached to another piece of legislation, however, advocates are mindful that they are up against the clock due to the widely expected reduction of the Democratic majority in the Senate come the November elections. As such, it seems vital that legislators hear from their constituents regarding ENDA as soon as possible, especially given the campaign of misinformation that has been started against ENDA by some so-called "traditional value" groups.
If you would like to contact your legislators regarding ENDA, the HRC has an email form that is already written for you (you could also use the text of the email for lobbying your senators too) that you can customize and send. To take a look, please go here.
Alternatively, the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce has an entire page dedicated to what they call an ENDA toolkit with resources you need to get the word out about ENDA. To find out more, please go here.
Further Information and Resources:
- Facebook ENDA Campaign
- Facebook ENDA Campaign Senate Spreadsheet
- Facebook ENDA Campaign House Spreadsheet
- Act on Principles House Public Whip Count
- Act on Principles Senate Public Whip Count
- Call Script - What to Say When You Call Your Legislators About ENDA
Related Reading:
- Find out more on the House Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
- Find out more on the Senate Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
(Finally, a big thanks to Dr. Jillian T. Weiss and all those at the Facebook Inclusive ENDA project for creating and providing the terrific Facebook group resources.)
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