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On Friday, the Florida Businesses for a Competitive Workforce (FBCW) coalition delivered a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of its Monday hearing.
The letter provides information on why SB 120 by Sen. Joe Abruzzo and HB 45 by Rep. Holly Raschein must be heard in committee.
Among other assertions the letter makes: Polling indicates 68 percent support statewide for employment protections regarding sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
The letter also notes that although 55 percent of Floridians enjoy such protections, a lack of a statewide statute creates a “patchwork” system of protections, one that can only be enacted via statewide legislation.
lso The letter counters the argument that such laws open up the “floodgates to litigation,” saying that such claims in Broward and Palm Beach counties are a minuscule percentage of employment discrimination claims.
Senator Abruzzo stated in the FBCW release that “our nation’s largest companies have endorsed the Competitive Workforce Act because it’s good for business and because it’s the right thing to do.”