In January of 2016, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) published a list of the top ten issues that will be before state legislatures across the nation this year. Since Pennsylvania will close out the 2015-2016 session this fall, it’s worth a look to see what our own elected officials are doing to address each of the issues. The next topic up for consideration: Anti-Discrimination Legislation.
Despite the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States, there are still laws on the books in Pennsylvania that allow discrimination against the LGBT community in housing, employment and public accommodations. Efforts this year to enact legislation which would end these discriminatory actions in the Commonwealth have continually stalled, despite broad bi-partisan and cross-state support in the state legislature.
H.B. 1510 (Frankel, D-Allegheny) and S.B. 974 (Browne, R-Lehigh) are two bills that amend the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based “sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.” (Current law provides protection from such discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, ancestry, sex, age or national origin). Despite having support from nearly half the members in each chamber, representing both political parties and an ample geographic cross-section of the Commonwealth, neither bill has seen a lot of action: H.B. 1510 is parked in the House State Government Committee, while the Senate State Government Committee has just scheduled a public hearing on S.B. 974 for September 26.
Read H.B. 1510 here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=1510
Read S.B. 974 here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0974
However, a recent effort by Sen. Browne to advance this legislation was somewhat successful. Examining the prohibitions against discrimination provided for in the Human Relations Act in three separate parts (discrimination in housing, discrimination in employment and discrimination in public accommodations), Sen. Browne introduced S.B. 1307 which would have addressed the issue of discrimination in housing only. Browne’s bill, as drafted, would have prohibited discrimination against people based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression in housing, but not in employment or public accommodation. This narrow scope warranted having the bill sent to the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee, where it was brought up for consideration in late June. In the committee, the bill was successfully amended by Sen. Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny) to prohibit discrimination against people based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression in employment, as well as in housing (still not addressing the issue of discrimination in public accommodation). This put S.B. 1307 two-thirds of the way there; however, after receiving first consideration, the bill was re-referred to the Senate Rules Committee, where it still awaits further action.
Read S.B. 1307 here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2015&sind=0&body=S&type=B&bn=1307
Should the legislature decide to act on S.B. 1307, it will require at least five legislative days; two more days of consideration in the Senate, and then three full days of consideration in the House. While the fall schedule indicates that there is enough time to pass the bill (or even one of the other two bills, which would each require six days of legislative action), it’s uncertain whether or not the will exists to do so.
Meanwhile, just this week, the Senate Labor and Industry Committee held a public hearing on S.B. 1306 (Browne, R-Lehigh), a bill similar to S.B. 1307, which would prohibit discrimination in employment housing and public accommodations based on “sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.” The committee heard from stakeholders on both sides of the issue, but came to no resolution as to when or whether to act on the bill.
Though the General Assembly is slow to advance this issue, the Administration is making efforts to end potentially discriminatory practices. Gov. Wolf signed two executive orders related to this issue this year: one which would prohibit discrimination in employment under the Governor’s jurisdiction based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and one that would prohibit the same types of discrimination in state contracts.
For the Governor’s executive orders, see:
https://www.governor.pa.gov/executive_orders/executive-order-2016-04-equal-employment-opportunity/
https://www.governor.pa.gov/executive_orders/executive-order-2016-05-contract-compliance/
Also, on July 22, 2016 the Governor and Department of General Services Secretary Curt Topper announced that LGBT-owned businesses will be recognized as small, diverse businesses. This action will level the playing field when the state awards competitive contracts for goods and services.
The press release can be read here: https://www.governor.pa.gov/governor-wolf-announces-lgbt-owned-and-disabled-owned-businesses-to-be-recognized-as-small-diverse-businesses/
It’s not easy to read the tea-leaves on this issue; Gov. Wolf may continue to take similar actions throughout the remainder of his term, and the legislature could possibly act on legislation by the end of the session in November. If none of the bills here make it across the finish line this fall, we expect they will be re-introduced in the 2017-2018 session.