As we've been reporting over the past couple of weeks, the New Hampshire House is scheduled to vote today on a hideous bill (HB 437) from Rep. David Bates that would repeal the state's marriage equality law.
The AP explains:
The bill, scheduled for a House vote on Wednesday, calls for repealing gay marriage in March 2013 and replacing it with a civil unions law that had been in place in 2008 and 2009. Gay marriages occurring before the repeal took effect would still be valid, but future gay unions would be civil unions. The bill also would allow voters could weigh in through a nonbinding November ballot question.
If the House passes the repeal measure, it would go to the Senate; both houses are controlled by Republicans. Democratic Gov. John Lynch has promised to veto the bill if it reaches his desk.
A two-thirds vote of the Legislature is required to override a veto.
The Union-Leader has more:
Opponents call the proposed referendum a distraction and say poll after poll shows wide support among New Hampshire residents for retaining the current law. New Hampshire does not allow binding voter referendums, unlike other states including Massachusetts, Maine, Colorado and California. Some House members oppose the bill because of the referendum component and a floor amendment is possible today to remove it
There will be a number of other floor amendments today, including one by Rep. Seth Cohn, R-Canterbury, to prevent two left-handed people from marrying. Another would remove the state from regulating marriage while establishing domestic union contracts to provide identical benefits .
We'll be following this…
