HR 7020 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
District of Columbia Courts and Public Defender Service Employment Non-Discrimination Act
To provide for coverage of employees of the District of Columbia courts and the District of Columbia Public Defender Service under the District of Columbia Human Rights Act, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill extends coverage of the District of Columbia Human Rights Act to nonjudicial employees of the D.C. courts and employees of the D.C. Public Defender Service. These employees would gain protection against employment discrimination under the Human Rights Act and the right to file complaints for violations. The bill excludes these employees from separate complaint procedures established for other D.C. government agencies. The changes apply to complaints filed on or after the bill's enactment.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Actions (3)
- Jan 12, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. · house
- Jan 12, 2026 Introduced in House
- Jan 12, 2026 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E24-25)
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 12, 2026
Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
A BILL
To provide for coverage of employees of the District of Columbia courts and the District of Columbia Public Defender Service under the District of Columbia Human Rights Act, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “District of Columbia Courts and Public Defender Service Employment Non-Discrimination Act”.
SEC. 2. COVERAGE OF EMPLOYEES UNDER DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HUMAN RIGHTS ACT.
(a) Coverage.—
(1) Employees of district of columbia courts.—Section 11- 1726, District of Columbia Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(e) For purposes of the Human Rights Act of 1977 (sec. 2-1401.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code), a nonjudicial employee of the District of Columbia courts shall be considered to be an employee under such Act and the District of Columbia courts shall be considered to be an employer under such Act.”.
(2) Employees of district of columbia public defender service.—Section 305 of the District of Columbia Court Reform and Criminal Procedure Act of 1970 (sec. 2-1605, D.C. Official Code) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(e) For purposes of the Human Rights Act of 1977 (sec. 2-1401.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code), an employee of the Service shall be considered to be an employee under such Act and the Service shall be considered to be an employer under such Act.”.
(b) Exclusion From Separate Procedures Established for Complaints Against Agencies of District Government.—Section 303 of the Human Rights Act of 1977 (sec. 2-1403.03, D.C. Official Code) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(c) This section does not apply with respect to complaints filed against—
“(1) the District of Columbia courts or officials and employees of the District of Columbia courts; or
“(2) the District of Columbia Public Defender Service or officials and employees of the District of Columbia Public Defender Service.”.
(c) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to complaints filed on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. <all>
Comments