Senate May Soon Have Votes To Pass Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) To Protect LGBT Workers (UPDATED)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has promised a Senate vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) before Thanksgiving, and possibly as early as next week. This bill, which has been proposed in every Congress since 1994, would make it illegal for employers to make hiring, promotion, or firing decisions based on an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Like all Senate legislation, ENDA will require a cloture vote of 60 votes before it can pass, and it seems the votes are almost all there, with several new endorsements this week.

In the lead-up until this week, three Democratic Senators had refused to sign on as co-sponsors: Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Mark Pryor (D-AR), and Joe Manchin (D-WV). On Tuesday, both Nelson and Pryor announced they would be voting “yes,” leaving Manchin as the only Democrat left not supporting the bill. Nelson went so far as to sign on as a co-sponsor of the bill. [See update below.]

Cory Booker (D) will be sworn in to represent New Jersey this week, adding one more vote to the “yes” column. Additionally, Several Republicans have already supported the bill, including cosponsoring Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), as well as Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who both voted in favor of the bill in committee. That still leaves two votes necessary to bring ENDA to the floor.

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UPDATE:
Sen. Joe Manchin announced Wednesday morning that he would support ENDA. This means that all Senate Democrats now support it and ENDA is just one vote short of cloture.

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http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/10/30/2858411/senate-votes-amassing-pass-employment-non-discrimination-act-enda/