News
2007-06-22
Antidiscrimination bill fails again in Delaware state senate
An attempt to
extend Delaware's antidiscrimination law to cover sexual
orientation met with a disappointing end Wednesday afternoo
An attempt to
extend Delaware's antidiscrimination law to cover sexual
orientation met with a disappointing end Wednesday afternoon
when the state senate referred the bill to a dead-end
committee, reports Delaware Online. As with its
two predecessors, a floor vote looks unlikely, with
the bill locked in a 3–3 tie.
Supporters of
senate bill 141 were confident that it would reach the
floor for discussion when it was scheduled for a senate
committee hearing. They hoped its assignment to a
committee chaired by a proponent of the legislation
would lead to a vote by the full senate.
For now, the
bill is stalled in the senate insurance and elections
committee. As the committee has six members, four votes
in favor of the bill are needed to release it.
Currently legislators are deadlocked on the issue.
Sen. John C.
Still III, a Dover North Republican who sits on the
committee, told Delaware Online he doesn't see any movement
happening any time soon.
"I'm not going to
sign it, and there are two people who are standing
with me," Still said.
"This bill has
now shown up in three different committees, some of
which I haven't served on, and it's never gotten out. I'd
say that shows the pro tem knows how to pick
committees," he said to the news site, in reference to
senate president pro tempore Thurman Adams Jr., a
Democrat.
Adams has
consistently assigned similar bills to committees chaired by
legislators who opposed them. The legislation has never come
close to a full senate vote.
To the
legislature's general surprise, Adams referred S.B. 141 to
insurance and elections, a committee chaired by Elsmere
Democratic senator Patricia Blevins, a strong
proponent of the legislation.
Democrats David
P. Sokola of Newark and Harris B. McDowell III of
Wilmington North sit on the committee and have expressed
their support for the bill.
Yet Still has an
ally in Republican senate minority leader Charles L.
Copeland of West Farms, who told Delaware Online he would
vote against S.B. 141 in committee and on the floor.
Sen. Nancy Cook,
a Kenton Democrat, led the committee to deadlock
Wednesday, voting against the bill's release.
"I am here to
represent my constituents," Cook said to Delaware
Online. "I believe the majority of my constituents are
opposed to the bill." (The Advocate)
Click here to follow The Advocate on Twitter.
Page 1 of 1