A vote in the state House of Representatives may take place next week that could determine if the long-stalled Pennsylvania Fairness Act will move forward. The legislation would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of classes protected from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations.
State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-23rd Dist.), the prime sponsor of the bill, submitted a discharge resolution Tuesday to free it from the State Government Committee. The committee is helmed by state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-12th Dist.), a vehement opponent of LGBT rights who has refused to hold a hearing or vote on the legislation, which was re-introduced in September.
A discharge resolution is a rare procedural move that, if approved by a majority of the House, allows a bill to bypass its committee and come before the full House. The resolution needs 25 signatories before it can come up for a vote.
“They’re all there,” Frankel told PGN of the signatories Thursday. “We would’ve had more but we just needed 25.”
The first opportunity for Frankel to announce his intent to call the discharge resolution for a vote is June 13, which means the vote would take place June 15.
“We have to get all the advocates together and decide the best timing,” he said.
If a resolution vote is approved, the legislation would be sent to the House floor where it would be subject to the customary three separate readings, at which time it will be open for amendments. Frankel said that’s an obstacle backers are ready for.
“The amendment process would clearly be another challenge, but we’ve always anticipated that those who oppose this bill would use the amendment process to help defeat it, so we can’t avoid that. We’re prepared for it,” Frankel said.
Frankel noted there opponents who want to avoid a showdown on the discharge resolution could still find ways around advancing the legislation, such as amending the bill in committee or referring it to another committee that could also stall it.
Both would continue to run counter to legislative opinion, he said.
“We’ve gotten tired of the fact that a piece of legislation that has brought the cosponsorship it has in the House isn’t even getting a hearing or a vote,” Frankel said.
The bill currently has 82 cosponsors.
Frankel noted the measure also enjoys vast public support, with about 72 percent of Pennsylvanians in every region supporting it.
“There’s a lot of interest in this and always has been. The public should be energized and insist that we deserve a vote on this. We need to know where legislators stand, particularly as we enter an election season. This has been an important issue that we’ve been working on for many, many years and we now have a governor who has made this a priority as well. If legislators are opposed, then they stand up and vote against it, but let us have a vote. And then people will know where their legislators stand and can hold us accountable.”
The discharge resolution signatories include 10 lawmakers from Philadelphia: Reps. Leslie Acosta, Kevin Boyle, Donna Bullock, Tonyelle Cook-Artis, Jason Dawkins, Pam DeLissio, Jordan Harris, Joanna McClinton, Mike O’Brien and Brian Sims.
In a statement, Sims blasted lawmakers who support blocking the measure.
“This kind of willful resistance – refusing even to hold a hearing on a bill with wide, bipartisan support – is exactly what people don’t like about Harrisburg and Washington, D.C.,” he said. “People are tired of Harrisburg being a place where good ideas go to die.”