Salon.com > Jeff Merkley

Jeff Merkley courts GOP support on ENDA

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:17:00 +0000

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., says that he's been having talks with Republicans about potential support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act - including with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who recently became the first Republican senator to back marriage equality.

Merkley co-sponsored the bill, which would ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, with Republican Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois and Susan Collins of Maine.

"I’ve had an initial conversation with [Portman] and told him I’d be following up as we filed the bill,” Merkley told The Huffington Post. “But I can tell you I’ve sat down with a number of Republicans who have not come out publicly yet. They’re still mulling over what they’re going to do, but I think there’s a very good chance they’re going to be supporting this bill. Whether that comes in a co-sponsorship or an affirmative vote when we are on the floor is yet to be seen. But I think that our numbers will be increasing both in sponsorship and in a floor vote than where we would have been had we had a floor vote even two years ago or four years ago.”

Will Congress finally outlaw anti-gay workplace discrimination?

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:10:00 +0000

Today, a group of lawmakers is trying to succeed where Congress has failed for almost two decades, by introducing a bill to finally end workplace discrimination against gay and transgender Americans. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has been a top-ticket item for advocates since it was first introduced in 1994, but principle sponsor Sen. Jeff Merkley told Salon in an interview this afternoon that he thinks this will be the year they succeed.

"I think most Americans would be surprised to find out that it is legal to discriminate against the GLBT community, and to do so in employment, which is fundamental to the opportunity for the pursuit of happiness and for equality under the law and general fairness," the Oregon Democrat said in an interview.

Indeed, though it's almost hard to believe, with no federal statute on the books, it's perfectly legal to fire someone for being gay in 29 states that don't have their own non-discrimination laws. In 34 states, you can fire transgender people.

ENDA to be introduced Thursday

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:28:00 +0000

Both the House and the Senate will introduce ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a key piece of gay rights legislation that prevents discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgender people in the workplace.

The Washington Blade reports:

The bill will be reintroduced in the House by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), the most senior openly gay member of the chamber, who’s taking over the legislation now that former Rep. Barney Frank has retired. In the Senate, the legislation will be reintroduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). The lawmakers’ offices confirmed they would introduce ENDA concurrently on Thursday.

Though the White House has said it plans to make ENDA's passage a priority, though it has not made much headway, and the legislation has had a hard time getting any traction in Congress. Supporters of the legislation hope that with the recent slew of Senators who have come out in support of gay marriage, ENDA will have more of a fighting chance.

How Democrats learned to stop worrying and love filibuster reform

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 16:45:00 +0000

How far we’ve come. This week, the White House endorsed reforming the filibuster and no one batted an eyelash. Of course the president supported filibuster reform, the entire Democratic establishment was already on board!

But just two years ago, senior Democrats were saying things like this: "I'm totally opposed to the idea of changing the filibuster rules. I think that's foolish.” And: “I’m so vehemently opposed to the ideas to fundamentally change the rules of the Senate.” That was Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, who really hated the filibuster, but there were others.

“I think as torturous as this place can be, the cloture rule and the filibuster is important to protect the rights of the minority... My inclination is no,” Arkansas Democrat Mark Pryor told The Hill's Alexander Bolton when asked about reform in 2010.