HJR-3 Passes Senate 32-17

Action on HJR-3 this session finally comes to a close after it passed on third reading by a vote of 32-17. Sen. Mike Delph kept his word and voted against it because of the leadership's decision not to allow an amendment to add back the second sentence stripped from the bill in the House, which would have broadened the state's ban on same-sex marriages to extend to civil unions, domestic partnerships or any other form of legal recognition that equated a same-sex marriage to traditional marriages. Sen. Ron Alting, Sen. Vaneta Becker, Sen. Phil Boots and Sen. Pete Miller were four other Republican members who joined Democratic lawmakers in opposing HJR-3. One Democrat, Sen. Richard Young, voted in favor of it. The constitutional amendment must be approved by the members of the next General Assembly before it can go before voters for consideration at the 2016 general election. Meanwhile, all of the important legislative initiatives that screw over the public have flown through the process already under the radar while the legislature turned the public's and the media's attention to this sideshow circus act.