Republican Heller provides ENDA tipping point in Senate

(UPI) -- The Employment Non-Discrimination Act appeared to clear a key hurdle in the Senate but it faces another, possibly fatal obstacle in the House.

Nevada Republican Dean Heller said Monday he would support the bill which would prohibit employers for firing a person on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, providing the all-important 60th vote in the Senate to overcome a potential filibuster.

Heller called voting for ENDA "the right thing to do."

“This legislation raises the federal standards to match what we have come to expect in Nevada, which is that discrimination must not be tolerated under any circumstance,” he said in a statement.

Heller joins all 55 Democrats in the Senate in supporting ENDA, along with two Republican co-sponsors, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois, as well as GOPers Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Orrin Hatch of Utah.

Sens. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, are also considered potential "ayes."

But even if ENDA passes in the Senate, as now appears likely, its journey just got more difficult in the Republican-controlled house.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, voiced his opposition to the bill Monday morning, saying it would place too much of a burden on businesses.

"The Speaker believes this legislation will increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs, especially small business jobs," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.

Boehner's opposition means it is unlikely the House will even vote on the measure.

A vote in the Senate on ENDA is expected to pass later this week. The last time it came up in Congress, in 1996, it failed in the Senate by one vote.