Bosma sends marriage amendment to new House committee

Facing an uncertain outcome in the House Judiciary Committee, where the proposed constitutional amendment had stalled for more than a week, Bosma unilaterally ordered the measure transferred to the House Elections Committee, which will hear testimony and vote on the proposal Wednesday.

"It has a likelihood of making its way to the floor with this route," Bosma said. "It's my hope, as I said on Organization Day, that the members -- as the representatives of all Hoosiers -- get a chance to vote on it."

State Rep. Milo Smith, R-Columbus, chairman of the Elections Committee, said he will hold a full hearing on the amendment, House Joint Resolution 3, and its explanatory companion legislation, House Bill 1153, with supporters and opponents each allotted one hour for testimony.

"We can debate this issue forever; it's my position, and it has been for quite some time, that the voters need to vote on this in November," Smith said.

There are nine Republicans and four Democrats on the Elections Committee. It is believed there will be enough votes to send both measures to the full House, even though some committee members, such as state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, don't necessarily support them.

"I don't like it, but people on both sides say they want to vote on the issue," Soliday said.

Bosma said he spent the weekend thinking about how to advance the marriage amendment out of committee. He previously hinted that he might replace members of the Judiciary Committee, which is permitted by House rules.

The decision to transfer the legislation was made Monday when Smith said he got a telephone call asking whether he'd hold a vote if the amendment was sent to his committee. He said yes.

State Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, the deputy House Democratic leader, said in her 16 years in the House she's never seen a constitutional amendment get shifted to another committee when it looked like it didn't have enough votes to pass.

"I'm glad he didn't remove committee members; that would have been even more bizarre," Lawson said.

House Joint Resolution 3 would add the state's existing ban on gay marriage to the Indiana Constitution along with a sentence declaring, "A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized."

The companion measure, House Bill 1153, is intended to clarify that the second sentence does not prohibit businesses from providing benefits to their employees' same-sex partners or restrict equal access to public places. However, legal experts disagree on whether courts will take notice of that legislative intent.

If the proposed amendment is approved this year by the House and Senate, as it was in 2011, Hoosier voters will decide in November whether to ratify or reject it.