Just announced on the Indy Star website:
Gay-wed ban won’t get hearing
By Mary Beth SchneiderJanuary 18, 2008
The proposed same-sex marriage ban will not get a hearing in the state House this year, lawmakers said today.
A Senate committee plans to debate the amendment next week, but the issue’s fate hinges on action in the House, where the amendment died last year in that chamber’s Rules and Legislative Procedure Committee.
Rep. Scott Pelath, the Michigan City Democrat who is chairman of that committee, said today that the most urgent issue emergency facing the state is property taxes, not same-sex marriage, which already is banned by Indiana law.
“I’m not planning on having a hearing,” Pelath said. “The short session (of the legislature) was designed to deal with emergencies. We have a very serious problem with the property tax system and we don’t have any gay marriages in Indiana.”
Eric Miller, who has pushed for passage of the amendment as founder of the conservative group Advance America, criticized the decision.
The legislature, he said, is dealing with plenty of issues besides property tax reform and has the time to debate and vote on this amendment before its March 14 deadline.
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