Serial referrals in the House for the gay marriage bill
This was noted in the legislative press room by a few folks, including the Barkeep, but I haven't seen it shared yet.
A bill filed in the House this week would put a referendum before voters on a having a state constitution ban on gay marriage.
I wrote last week about the Senate version of the bill and how the legislative leadership won't let them get to fruition. In the Senate, such measures have been sent to the Ways and Means Committee, which hasn't met since George W. Bush's first term.
Speaker Joe Hackney was a little more subtle in his handling of the bill. He gave it four serial referrals.
"So?" I hear you ask. Here's what that means.
Since Hackney took over as Speaker, bills usually get a hearing in two committees. That can be a pretty tall order, particularly and the end of session, when committee time is short. But the idea is that if two committees sign off on something, it's been given a thorough going over.
On rare occasions, a bill will get three referrals, especially if it has a tax component. The bill to ban smoking, which was written by the House majority leader, may end up with three referrals before it hits the House floor.
Four referrals is just, well, it's a long road to walk. Even if all the committee chairmen were enthusiastic about passing such a bill, it would take the measure at least a month to clear out of committee were it to move at a quick but normal pace. And since committee chairmen serve at the please of the Speaker, perhaps their enthusiasm for this measure is less than ardent.
The bill, H 361, has been assigned to the Rules committee, then on to Election Law and Campaign Finance Reform and then to Judiciary I and finally to Appropriations.
Even if proponents were to push the bill by means of parliamentary maneuvers that let recall the bill from committee, the time involved would be immense. Every time such a vote got near, the bill could be passed on a voice vote and shuffled off to the next committee where a series of legislative clocks would be reset.
While nothing the legislature ever does is permanent or intractable, it seems this bill is unlikely to find its way to a floor vote.
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