Monday, January 27, 2014

House Removes Second Sentence Of HJR-3

Over the objections of the author of HJR-3, Rep. Eric Turner (R-Cicero), the House of Representatives just voted 52-43 to remove the second sentence from the marriage discrimination amendment that would have extended the current statutory ban on same-sex marriages to a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of a marriage for unmarried individuals. As amended, HJR-3 would now mirror Indiana's Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriages as between one man and one woman. More importantly, if HJR-3 is passed by both chambers in its current amended form, HJR-3 would be required to be approved by the next General Assembly in the same form, thereby eliminating the possibility of the amendment going before voters in this year's November general election since it is different than the form of the amendment adopted by the previous General Assembly. Cheers erupted in a packed gallery after the amendment passed.

UPDATE: Here's how individual lawmakers voted on the amendment:

Yes (to remove second sentence): Arnold, Austin, Bacon Bartlett, Battles, Bauer, Beumer, Braun, Brown, C., Candelaria Reardon, Clere, Cox, DeLaney, Dvorak, Eberhart, Errington, Forestal, GiaQuinta, Hale, Harris, Heuer, Huston, Kersey, Kirchofer, Klinker, Kubacki, Lawson, Leonard, Lucas, Macer, Mahan, McNamara, Moed, Moseley, Neese, Negele, Niezgodski, Pelath, Pierce, Porter, Pryor, Riecken, Saunders, Shackleford, Smith, V., Soliday, Sullivan, Summers, Torr, Truitt, VanDenburgh, Ziemke

No (to keep as is): Baird, Behning, Bosma, Brown, T., Burton, Carbaugh, Cherry, Culver, Dermody, DeVon, Friend, Frizzell, Frye, Gutwein, Hamm, Harman, Heaton, Karickhoff, Koch, Lehe, Lehman, Lutz, Mayfield, McMillin, Messmer, Morrison, Morris, Ober, Price, Rhodes, Richardson, Siager, Smaltz, Smith, M., Speedy, Thompson, Turner, Ubelhor, VanNatter, Washburne, Wesco, Wolkins, Zent

Excused: Davisson, Goodin, Niemeyer, Stemler, Steuerwald

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't throw in with the cheers crowd. The left has a long cacophonous history. It doesn't take much shrieking on the street to draw everyone to their windows.

Anonymous said...

Most of the legislators must be knowledgeable enough to realize, given the recent spate of decisions, that HJR3 will not pass U.S. Constitutional muster. Amending the bill effectively kills it by delaying a vote in a general election until 2016, when either the issue will be settled nationally or, if not, even the majority of Hoosiers will realize the futility of the bill and the adverse impact to the state of this bill. Corporations and business leaders have been clear that this bill makes the state ultimately unattractive to business, and for what? Exactly what harm is caused by same sex marriage? Why prevent tax paying gay citizens the ability to protect their families, including their many thousands of innocent children, through civil marriage just as heterosexuals do? What possible harm is there in that? How could any rational person be so short sighted and vindictive?

Anonymous said...

Let's move on to jobs numbers investigation, Tif's, Health and Hospital, IHCAA, Natorium deal, highways, bridges, jobs to Indiana...education for pre-K, and more...Priorities?

Anonymous said...

and the Speedawy deal for races and more.Careful whom you race/and play with...and are seen with...

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 08:55, It is obvious you haven't heard of The Mack/Printz ruling, which makes it clear that the states do not have to accept orders from the feds!

Ohio has rejected ObamaCare by virtue of Constitutional amendment.

Why are you afraid of sending this issue to The People of Indiana for a vote?

Let The People decide.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I read that according to the Ohio State Constitution, no one can be forced or fined to sign up for healthcare. This includes, but is not limited to individuals, businesses, doctors, no one! Nor can they be fined, taxed, penalized, or forced to pay by wage withholding. Whether intentional or not, the state of Ohio has given every person, business, hospital, doctor in that state the legal basis for not having to engage, nor be involved with the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

According to the Ohio State Constitution Article 1 Section 21 “Preservation Of The Freedom To Choose Health Care and Health Care Coverage” located on page 9.


“21 (A) No federal, state, or local law or rule shall compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer, or health care provider to participate in a health care system. (emphasis mine)
(B) No federal, state, or local law or rule shall prohibit the purchase or sale of health care or health insurance.
(C) No federal, state, or local law or rule shall impose a penalty or fine for the sale or purchase of health care or health insurance.
(D) This section does not affect laws or rules in effect as of March 19, 2010; affect which services a health care provider or hospital is required to perform or provide; affect terms and conditions of government employment; or affect any laws calculated to deter fraud or punish wrongdoing in the health care industry."


Paying attention to section (D) under Article 1 Section 21 “Preservation Of The Freedom To Choose Health Care And Health Care Coverage” it states: “This section does not affect laws or rules in effect as of March 19, 2010″. This means anything that was law prior to the date of March 19, 2010 is not subject to Article 1 Section 21, but any law enacted after that date is subject to Article 1 Section 21. This is great news for all Ohio citizens, business owners, doctors, hospitals etc..

As you know, in order for any bill to become law it requires three very important factors. It must pass the Senate, the House of Representatives, and it then must be signed by the president of the United States for it to become a “law.” Until the President has signed the legislation, it has not become law. I point out this very important fact because President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, on March 23, 2010. That was four days after the cut off date located in Article 1 Section 21 section (D) of the Ohio State Constitution. Thus, the Ohio Constitution grants every person, doctor, hospital, and business the choice not to be forced to sign up for Obamacare, nor fined for failing to sign up for it.

http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/01/good-news-ohio-constitution-stops-obamacare-tracks/#h75cEPtP1zMrk5Eb.99

Anonymous said...

If solving a problem for his party is the standard, Brian Bosma did a brilliant job of manipulating this issue. He had to know the votes, both on the amendment, and the amendment to the amendment, from every member of his party. He also had to know that all of those votes were going to be under tremendous pressure that wasn't going away any time soon. So, getting it to the house floor, where he had the votes for it to be amended, had to happen quickly. The result covers everyone in his party - including those who were just afraid of being promaried. A vote against amending it can be justified to the far right, but so can a vote to amend. If you like politics, even Indiana politics, this was good work.

Anonymous said...

Good politics is counting the number of murders over the last two weeks while our tax-payers watch our House and Senate and City Council make deals for all kinds of items-what legislation has been presented re: Marriage, Transit, Bonds for Infrastructure and more. We pay the officials do we not. I want snow plowed, streets and sidewalks clear, business and school open, and the murder rate and guns addressed along with lots of other matters. Priorities.