Three months ago, City Council member Tommy Hazouri said he was hoping to introduce a bill by year-end to expand the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance to include the LGBT community.
That was on the heels of the August primary, a time when political differences largely were set aside to coalesce behind a referendum to address pension reform. Hazouri hoped to see the same type of effort go into one of his top priorities after that vote.
It hasn’t happened yet.
On Thursday, the final postings of the year for newly introduced legislation were without a human rights ordinance among them. Hazouri said he isn’t disappointed the timing didn’t work out before the holiday break.
“I would have liked to have done it,” Hazouri said Friday.
He and council members Aaron Bowman and Jim Love filed a bill at the beginning of the year to expand city policy, but withdrew it in February when it appeared it would fail.
This go-round, Hazouri said he wanted to see groups outside City Hall lead the effort to show how important the issue is for the city. They have.
The JAX Chamber, Jacksonville Civic Council and Jacksonville Coalition for Equality are among the organizations that have partnered to lobby council members privately in hopes to secure the needed 10 votes to pass a bill.
“I would say so far it’s been positive,” said Audrey Moran, this year’s chamber chair and a staunch advocate for expanding the local law.
Moran said momentum has been building and that rather than meet some type of deadline, further due diligence is needed before the next attempt.
She characterized support as “steady” leading up to a Friday meeting among advocate groups to determine the next step.
Her hope is to see a bill filed in January, but it “definitely” will be the first quarter.
Jimmy Midyette, legislative director for the equality coalition, agrees with that time frame. And while he knew the hope initially might have been for something filed by the end of the year, he knows it’s coming soon.
“I’d rather go when the time is right,” he said. “Sooner isn’t always better.”
Midyette said momentum to expand the laws recently has been bolstered by election results from afar.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory conceded his gubernatorial race last week to Roy Cooper, the state attorney general.
The two were on opposite sides of House Bill 2, a measure that superseded local government’s stances on anti-discrimination protections.
Some businesses that supported anti-discrimination efforts halted business expansions. Sports leagues and performers also canceled events, costing the state millions.
The amount in losses varies, but some estimate hundreds of millions in economic impact.
McCrory’s defeat, said Midyette, was as much of a positive for the local movement as Houston was a negative. Last year, voters in the Texas city rejected LGBT-inclusive laws in a high-profile case.
Midyette said McCrory losing his election shows how discriminatory policies hurt a city’s economy and reputation and is one of the reasons local business officials have become more involved.
Moran agrees with the business argument, saying a human rights ordinance attracts businesses and millennials.
It’s also one of the many points Hazouri has espoused.
While the same backlash hasn’t happened locally as it has in North Carolina this year, Hazouri said not having something in place makes Jacksonville less competitive.
“If it’s not impacting us today, it will in the future,” he said.
To put a bill in the right environment to succeed, he’s let the advocacy groups do the heavy-lifting. He’s willing to wait a bit longer, if that’s what it means to succeed.
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