INDIANAPOLIS— The Indiana Senate will begin its review of a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in a committee hearing next week.
The Senate Rules and Legislative Procedure Committee will meet on the proposed ban after the Indiana Senate adjourns Monday. The Senate’s session is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. EST. The committee hearing will be held immediately after session in the Senate Chambers.
Senate President Pro Tem David Long announced last week he would assign the proposed ban — known as House Joint Resolution 3 — to the committee. Long, a Fort Wayne Republican, chairs the 12-member committee, which is one of the Senate’s largest and includes the leadership of both parties.
Of the Southwestern Indiana delegation, state Sen. Lindel Hume, D-Princeton, serves on the committee.
The Senate committee will review an amended version of the measure, after the Indiana House moved to strip out the civil unions ban contained in the proposed constitutional amendment’s second sentence.
Long has said he prefers the Senate committee not to amend the measure, so any possible changes can be weighed on the full Senate floor.
“I’d like to see a clean bill come to the floor of the Senate,” Long said last week in announcing the committee assignment. “I will say once on the floor any and all amendments will be considered and available.”
The Rules Committee will conduct a full hearing on the measure, though no decision has been made on length of testimony.