Looks like 2016 is not the year for LGBT workforce protections in Florida.
At the Florida Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Feb. 9, the committee was deadlocked 5-5 on the Florida Competitive Workforce Act, which would protect LGBT people against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. A tie vote means the bill fails.
The bill almost died before the same committee Feb. 8, but a last-minute motion to reconsider kept it alive for one more day.
Senators Jeremy Ring (D-Margate), Arthenia L. Joyner (D-Tampa), and Darren Soto (D-Kissimmee) all made last-ditch efforts to sway their fellow committee members in favor of the protections.
Ring said the committee should respect minority groups who have been waiting for a decade or more to have their issues discussed, and thanked the LGBT activists
“You may not get where you want to get this year. You opened the door to a discussion,” Ring said. “You got further than previous years. Thank you for your diligent work.”
The bill has been introduced in some form every legislative session since 2007. This is the first year it’s made it onto a committee agenda.
“It is time for us to do the right thing and let the full Senate to get the opportunity to hear debate and make this decision,” Joyner said. “This is the time to step up and do what I consider is just and right. For years I have fought for equality and that’s what this is all about. Some fights need to be at the 40-person level at the floor of the Florida Senate and this is one of those.”
When the bill’s sponsor, Florida Sen. Joe Abruzzo (D-Palm Beach), addressed the committee, it was clear he knew the bill was defeated. He also thanked the LGBT community, for being “brave enough to push this issue forward.”
He also seemed to express some frustration at the deadlock, talking about how he was prepared to consider any amendment that would have moved the protections forward.
A similar bill filed in the Florida House hasn’t made it onto a committee agenda.
