GENDA passes Assembly, Squadron starts Senate push

Will Brunelle

ALBANY—The Gender Equality Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) passed the State Assembly for the seventh time, after two hours of heated debate on Tuesday.

The bill passed 78-44 and is again in the hands of the Senate, which has historically delayed bringing it to the floor, and has repeatedly voted it down. Senator Dan Squadron, the primary sponsor in the chamber, released a statement immediately after the Assembly vote saying passage was “yet another message to the Senate leadership that it is time to bring this bill to the floor for a vote.”

”We can no longer allow legal discrimination against fellow New Yorkers for simply being who they are,” Squadron’s statement said. “With only six days left in the legislative session, the time for a vote is now.”

It remains to be seen whether the chamber's co-leaders, Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein, will bring the bill to the floor by session’s end.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/06/8546933/genda-passes-assembly-squadron-starts-senate-push