Lehigh County delays vote on anti-discrimination ordinance, commission until next year
A Lehigh County ordinance seeking to curb discrimination through a new commission and anti-discrimination requirements, will have to wait on the back burner until officials can consider it again next year.
The ordinance was removed from consideration after Lehigh County Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi withdrew his sponsorship due to multiple amendments that had been made since it was first introduced.
Cole-Borghi will introduce the legislation again in January or February, with a newly formed board to consider it.
“This legislation is not dead at all,” Cole-Borghi said.
The bill would create a county-wide human relations commission and prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, education, health care and public accommodations. The commission would receive and consider complaints of discrimination, which could then be referred to other agencies for action.
The bill was first introduced in December, then underwent several changes. Cole-Borghi said the bill’s multiple amendments made the process confusing for commissioners to consider, adding that it was simpler to reintroduce the bill next year with certain amendments implemented.
Commissioner Bob Elbich called the initiative valuable but added that he had concerns, including whether the Pennsylvania Human Relations
Commission could handle these issues and what it means if certain municipalities opt to not participate.
“It will save some costs to the county, should the state be able to handle the workload,” he said.
Dean Browning, a former commissioner, called the proposed commission’s goals desirable but also was concerned about the bill, including how it seemed to give the commission unconstrained funding and how it threatens to fine and jail anyone who “interferes” with the commission, a phrase he highlighted as being undefined.
After the meeting, Cole-Borghi said the bill’s amendments addressed many of Browning’s concerns. These included removing jailtime as a penalty for interfering with the commission.
Yet Cole-Borghi didn’t agree with all the amendments, including some from Commissioner Jeffrey Dutt that omitted citizenship status, marital status and sexual orientation as protected classes.
“My outlook on this is everyone should be protected from discrimination,” Cole-Borghi.
Dutt said he made those amendments so that the bill would match what state law protects.
As amended, the bill prohibits discrimination based on the following: actual or perceived race, ethnicity, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, familial status, GED rather than high school diploma, physical or mental disability, relationship or association with a disabled person, age, veteran status, use of guide or support animals and/or mechanical aids, or domestic or sexual violence victim status.
Cole-Borghi’s original bill also included sexual orientation, marital status, source of income, weight, height and citizenship or immigration status.
Cole-Borghi also disagreed with Elbich about letting the state handle cases of discrimination, reasoning that the county included protected classes that the state doesn’t, such as height and weight.
“We all know how legislation works and how slowly the wheels of government move from time to time,” Cole-Borghi said. “Even though [the state] has the staff and they’re not backlogged, I would hate to send something to Harrisburg that could be handled in Lehigh County.”
In other news from the Wednesday meeting, the board unanimously approved an agreement that would allow the nonprofit Turning Point of Lehigh Valley provided services to domestic violence survivors, including emergency safe-housing, counseling and legal advocacy.
“What they provide is not just a safe haven, but a home-like environment for these women and their children to begin the process of healing. … I completely support [Turning Point] and everything that they do,” Commissioner Zakiya Smalls said.