Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Bad News for Domestic Partnerships


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.