Indiana House Derails 2014 Marriage Amendment By Voting To Change Its Language

[RandySF]

On Monday evening, the Indiana Republican-controlled House amended the language to House Joint Resolution 3 with a 52-43 vote, which will likely preven the state from sending a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage to the ballot in 2014. The change struck the second sentence of the amendment, which would have banned recognition of any legal status for same-sex couples that is “identical or substantially similar” to marriage. Many felt this intruded too much on benefits for same-sex couples, which are vital to ensuring businesses and universities in the state can competitively hire.

If HJR 3 passes the legislature its new form, it cannot be sent to voters this year. Amendments to the Indiana State Constitution must pass in the same exact form in two consecutive legislative sessions before being sent to the ballot. HJR 3 was first passed in 2011, but it now becomes a new amendment, which — presuming the new form passes the House and then the Senate — must itself be approved in a second legislative session, meaning the earliest voters would see it on the ballot is probably 2016. By then, the U.S. Supreme Court may well have ruled on one of the other state cases, such as those that have already advanced in Nevada, Utah, and Oklahoma, and the amendment could be moot.

There is one way that the amendment could still advance in its original form this year. If the House passes the new version of the amendment, the Senate could then restore the second sentence and pass it that way. The different versions of HJR 3 would then have to be resolved in conference between the two chambers. Any change to the final conference version from what passed in 2011 would prevent the bill from advancing to voters this year.

A poll by the Indianapolis Star in advance of the vote found that the chamber was fairly split, with more than a third of the lawmakers who voted for the amendment’s first passage in 2011 now indicating opposition. Their concern about the impact of that second sentence culminated in the amendment to the amendment that ultimately passed on the floor.



http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2014/01/27/3210221/indiana-house-passes-marriage-amendment-narrow-vote/

[Adrahil]

1. I am so happy about this!

Many legislators KNOW that this amendment is the wrong thing to do. They WANT to vote against it, but are afraid of getting primaried. This technique is really a delaying tactic, assuming it works and Speaker Brian Bosma doesn't bend the rules AGAIN to get another bite at the apple. But delay here is good. Support for this amendment is dropping like a rock. If the amendment can be delayed another 2 years, there is a GOOD chance it would never get out of the legislature at all, and an even better chance that support for such a thing will be down across the state. Not to mention the chance such bans will FINALLY be ruled Unconstitutional.

Join us in Freedom Indiana!

[link:http://www.freedomindiana.org/|