An unexpected twist for SB 183.
After lengthy debate at a joint session of the Senate Public Affairs and Judiciary committees, the Public Affairs panel voted to send the bill to the Senate Finance Committee.
That's bad news for supporters because Senate Finance is the home of some of the most conservative Democrats who in the past have voted against the bill. Along with the committee's Republicans, there probably are enough votes to kill it.
The motion for the new committee was from Sen. Tim Eichenberg, D-Albuquerque, (pictured here) who voted for last year's domestic partnership bill.
The full Senate tomorrow will have the opportunity to accept or reject the committee report of Public Affairs. There probably will be a debate, but expect to see the report approved, which means the bill will go to Senate Finance.
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Senators Boitano, Eichenberg, Munoz, Kernan & Asbil all voted to send the bill to the Finance Committe, as a means to kill the bill. They feigned ignorance, and outright accused the GSD of providing false information, saying that the fiscal impact report that was presented with the bill wasn't "complete".
ReplyDeleteIts sad that these senators were so spineless as to not stand up proudly and say "We do not believe in equal rights for gay people, it is against our beliefs and we will not vote for it". Anything else they is a whitewash, if they are willing to stand up for what they truly believe, then they have nothing to fear, least of all, losing the next election.
Maybe the $6.2 million dollars in additional expenses to be incurred by such cash strapped agencies as Albuquerque Public Schools has something to do with the decision to send this bill to the Finance Committee. Or it may be the fact that the $25.00 fee making a woman a "father" won't cover the expenses. There's another $50,000 in expenses to be incurred by the State.
ReplyDeleteIn a year when we are at least a half billion dollars in debt and the best our legislators can do is hope for more money from Washington, maybe having the Finance Committee look at this isn't such a bad idea.
tjtorres, which of your rights would you like to give up to save the state money this year? How much are they worth to you? I mean, if the state can save a couple of million bucks when it's so strapped, you wouldn't mind giving up some of your rights that you take for granted, would you?
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