Lawmakers likely to leave same sex marriage off 2009 agenda

INDIANAPOLIS – Lawmakers will face plenty of challenges when they meet in January for the 2009 legislative session, with the top priority being the creation of a balanced two-year budget amid a tanking economy. But one hot-button issue that’s likely to be left off the agenda is same-sex marriage.

The GOP-controlled state Senate has voted three times since 2005 to pass the proposed amendment, which would have to pass two consecutive, separately elected General Assemblies and then win approval in a statewide vote to take effect.

But resolutions supporting the proposed amendment have twice died in the Democrat-controlled House.

Sen. Brandt Hershman, a Republican from Wheatfield who has pushed the measure in the past, told The Indianapolis Star that he doesn’t plan to raise the issue next year unless the House takes action first.

But amendment supporters say the Indiana Constitution should be changed to prevent judges from misinterpreting the law or overruling it.

“Certainly there are those, including the speaker, who say we have a law, and I understand that rationale,” said Rep. Eric Turner, R-Marion. “But we also have judges who sometimes interpret the law differently than we intended, thus the need for a constitutional amendment.”

Conservatives say they will continue to pressure House Democrats into allowing the amendment to move forward in the legislative process.

“We’re not going to give up just because Speaker Pat Bauer has blocked it in the past,” said Eric Miller, founder of the conservative activist group Advance America. “It’s right to protect marriage between a man and a woman, and it’s right for the people of Indiana to have a chance to vote on this.”

Others say legislators have more important things to focus on during the upcoming session, which starts Jan. 7.

“I would think there are several other things that would be on my agenda as a legislator that I would want to deal with before I started down this path of issues that people, quite frankly, have lost interest in,” said Walter Botich, legislative chairman of Indiana Equality. “We’ve got an economy that is not doing well, we’ve got people who are losing jobs, and yet some people want to harp on these same issues that are pulling people apart at a time we should be coming together to solve these big problems.”

Lawmakers passed the proposed resolution in 2005, when Republicans controlled both the House and Senate. But the measure did not pass in either 2007 or 2008. That meant the lengthy process of amending the constitution would have to start all over again.

If a constitutional ban is passed in either the 2009 or 2010 sessions, it would also have to pass again in either 2011 or 2012 to be eligible for a statewide vote in November 2012.