Josh seemed a little excited earlier today when he noted that the senate Committee on Healthcare, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) held a hearing this morning on the Employee Non Discrimination Act (ENDA), their first since 2002. (The bill would ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.)

Unfortunately, there is very little reason to be excited. There was no committee vote this morning. The ENDA bill is no closer to making it to the Senate floor.

No big deal I guess, it’s only been in circulation since I was eight (16 years ago).

But Senator Murray and her progressive allies are not at fault here. Murray has co-sponsored every iteration of the bill since is introduction in 1994. The trouble is that the culture of the Senate prevents any two even remotely controversial bills from being hashed out at the same time.

A staffer with HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin’s office told PubliCola the healthcare quagmire is effectively preventing them from moving any other legislation forward.

The hearing, they said, was merely held to ensure that ENDA remains a priority for the committee; basically keeping it on everyone’s radar until they can gather the momentum to act.