Udall Spokeswoman Says He'll Vote to Bring EFCA to Senate Floor

By Ernest Luing
The Colorado Independent

Chalk up another vote to bring the controversial Employee Free Choice Act, known as EFCA, to the full U.S. Senate for consideration. Ending plenty of speculation, a spokeswoman for Colorado Sen. Mark Udall on Wednesday morning told The Plum Line’s Greg Sargent the Boulder Democrat will cast a key vote to bring the sweeping labor-backed legislation to a vote.

That brings backers one step closer to the necessary 60 votes required for the Senate to hear the legislation, which would then only need a simple majority vote to pass.

Sargent posts:

Udall spokesperson Tara Trujillo confirms to me that Udall will cast the first vote in favor of EFCA. “He believes it’s important to have debate on big issues,” Trujillo says.

“Mark has always said this is not a perfect bill,” she adds, “but he believes workers should not be intimidated in the workplace.” Trujillo said it was uncertain what he would do on the final vote. “We don’t know what the final bill is going to look like,” she said.

As for other Democrats, the Udall move comes on the heels of Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s declaration she’d vote against allowing EFCA to the floor, while Virginia Sen. Mark Warner — considered a centrist in the vein of Udall and Colorado’s other senator, Michael Bennet — said he’ll support bringing EFCA to a vote....(Click for remainder.)