INDIANAPOLIS— House Speaker Brian Bosma reassigned legislation on a proposed amendment to the Indiana constitution banning same-sex marriage to a new committee Tuesday.
Bosma said he made the decision after House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Greg Steuerwald, R-Avon, said he was unsure the committee had the votes to pass the proposed amendment to the House floor.
Bosma said an “overwhelming” number of members of the House Republican caucus wanted the bill to pass to the full floor for a vote.
“I struggled with it over the weekend,” Bosma said. “I had clearly heard from an overwhelming number of the members of my caucus, an overwhelming majority actually, that they wanted to have the bill on the floor.”
The legislation is now assigned to the House Elections and Apportionment Committee, which is expected to hold a hearing on House Joint Resolution 3 and its companion legislation on Wednesday.
Of the Southwestern Indiana delegation, state Reps. Holli Sullivan, R-Evansville, and Kreg Battles, D-Terre Haute, serve on that committee.
Bosma said the elections committee’s chair had originally lobbied for the legislation to be heard in the committee since it deals with a statewide referendum.