scott wagner.jpg

State Sen. Scott Wagner, R-York, speaks at a recent Pa. Press Club luncheon in Harrisburg (PennLive file).

(Jan Murphy/PennLive)

Good Tuesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.

A long-stalled bill that

to Pennsylvania's LGBT citizens could finally be getting a jump start this week - from the unlikeliest of all places: A committee chaired by

Sen. Scott Wagner, R-York County

.

Senior aides to the outspoken conservative, who chairs the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee, say he plans to move language in the bill banning discrimination related to housing in what's known as an "off the floor" meeting on Wednesday.

For those of you playing along at home, that means Wagner's committee could be convened without warning, at any time, during Wednesday's scheduled voting session. Ordinarily, committees tend to meet at a fixed time.

So don't blink, you could miss this one if you're not paying attention.

Aides said the bill, originally sponsored by Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, has been chopped into three sections: One deals with housing, another with employment and another with public accommodation.

The bill had been sitting in the Senate State Government Committee, chaired by Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon, since its introduction last September.

It's time to force the debate," Wagner's chief of staff, Jason E. High, said Tuesday. "It's time to move this [bill] and force the conversation."

The announcement by Wagner's staff came a day after a gunman who'd pledged allegiance to the Islamist terrorist group, ISIS, opened fire with a semiautomatic weapon in a gay club in Miami.

Forty-nine people were killed in the rampage and 53 were injured. The gunman, an American citizen of Afghan descent, was gunned down in shootout with police.

Language in Browne's bill, which banned discrimination for public accommodation, had been caught up in the debate over access to public restrooms by transgender men and women.

In a statement posted to his website, Wagner, a likely GOP 2018 gubernatorial candidate, said he'd been "pressured" to take his name off the legislation because of unfounded concerns about access to public bathrooms by transgender individuals.

Wagner pointed out that towns and cities across the state had enacted similar ordinances without a single concern about restroom access.

The legislation "changes absolutely nothing about the way that bathrooms are dealt with, in spite of claims to the contrary that are full of legalese and references to court decisions from states with laws that are very different from Pennsylvania's," he wrote.

Wagner said he's willing to work with those who have concerns about the bill, including "individuals with deeply held religious convictions."

But "what we should not do, however, is completely abandon all efforts to gain fairness for the LGBT community," he wrote. "What we should not do is use fear as a tool to attempt to bully legislators into just giving up on this important issue."

Ted Martin, the executive director of the LGBT advocacy group Equality Pennsylvania, said Monday that his group had no concerns about the non-discrimination bill being split into three parts.

"Our approach is to fight for everything," Martin said. "We want to make sure that everything is included. There's no issue, procedurally, with the way," the legislation is advancing.

"It is movement - so we are cautiously moving it forward this way," he said. "We want employment and public accommodation just as much. This is just a way to move progress forward."

The rest of the day's news starts now.

Gov. Tom Wolf will undergo prostate cancer treatment this Tuesday, The Associated Press reports (via ABC-27).

Hate crimes offenders should not be allowed to own guns, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., tells The Tribune-Review (among others).

Our colleague, Ivey DeJesus, has everything you want to know about Monday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on a bill expanding Pennsylvania's statute of limitations in child sex-abuse cases.

PhillyMag looks at how Mayor Jim Kenney's big win on a soda tax is 'upending' things in City Hall.

Not for the first time (and probably not the last), Solicitor General Bruce Castor and Attorney General Kathleen Kane are singing from two, entirely different hymnals, likely printed in two entirely different languages (via The Post-Gazette).

U.S. Sen Pat Toomey, R-Pa., has 'worked to allow terrorists to buy guns,' in the United States, his Democratic rival, Katie McGinty, tells The Inquirer's Jonathan Tamari.

BillyPenn's Anna Orso looks at Pa's gun laws - and explains why Philly can't do much to tighten them.

Gov. Tom Wolf has signed legislation requiring rear-facing car seats for kids younger than age 2, The AP reports (via WITF-FM).

NewsWorks/WHYY-FM went to Monday's vigil in Philadelphia for the Orlando shootings victims. Thousands turned out to pay their respects.

In the Lehigh Valley, they're also showing their solidarity for the Orlando victims, The Morning Call reports.

What Goes On.

10 a.m., Main Rotunda: Rally to end violence against LGBT citizens.

11:30 a.m., East Rotunda: Rep. Steve McCarter and environmental groups on clean power

11:30 am., Main Rotunda: Blindness Awareness Exposition

1 p.m., Main Rotunda: Early Childhood Action Day

2 p.m., East Rotunda: Rep. Ed Gainey and others on fully decriminalizing marijuana

2:30 pm., Main Rotunda: Senate Democrats on topic TBD.

What Goes On (Nakedly Political Edition).

8 a.m.: Breakfast for Rep. Rosemary Brown

8 a.m.: Breakfast for Rep. Hal English

5:30 p.m.: Senate Republican Campaign Committee's annual "Summer Hoopla."

Ride the circuit, give at the max, and you'll part with a mere $1,500 today.

You Say It's Your Birthday Dept.

Best wishes go out to two, longtime Friends O'the Blog this morning: Pete Muntean, ex-WGAL reporter now of WUSA-TV in Washington D.C.; and Amber Wilkerson Marchand, of Hamilton Strategies in Washington D.C., both celebrate today. Congratulations, folks. Enjoy the day.

Heavy Rotation.

And now you're up to date. See you all back here in a bit.