Plan To Move ENDA Forward this July

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says that he plans to get the ball rolling on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in Congress by this July. The bill would make it illegal for companies to fire employees for being LGBT.

Harkin, the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said he plans to bring ENDA to his committee after the July 4 break, Buzzfeed reports. Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, the bill's chief sponsor, initially said he expected ENDA to be considered by the committee by June, and Freedom to Work's Tico Almeida said the delay from this spring to the summer was "disappointing."

Still, Almeida said he was confident that Harkin would accomplish his plans to mark up the bill this summer, to "move ENDA successfully from the committee and position it for floor action in the fall."