NY/NH: Marriage Equality on Tinterhooks

Two news items out today about marriage, both in New England:

• New Hampshire: After a crazy road here, it looks like the State House is, again, ready to bring the marriage bill to the floor. You might recall that New Hampshire's House and Senate (barely) passed it, then it was threatened with a veto by Gov. Lynch unless religious liberties were protected, which was then passed (better) by the Senate (but still barely), and then failed (barely) in the House where it was sent to committee for a compromise. The bill is now coming out of the committee with a compromise that the Governor is happy with, which means we might see stronger passage in the House and in the Senate (where it is required to be voted on again). Got all that? Oh, and all that might be happening today. Or, it could pass the House and get sent back to the Senate, where it might take a few days to pass again, and then a few days to get to the Governor's desk. Those crazy New Hampshire-ites!


• New York: In another crazy marriage state, the marriage equality bill passed the Assembly heartily a few weeks ago, after being introduced by the Governor, and now is sitting in the Senate where we are waiting for action... maybe as early as this week. In order to pass, 32 (not 31) Senators would need to vote for marriage equality. NY1 has a poll of the Senators and finds this: 20 in favor (all Dems), 27 are opposed (22 Republicans, 5 Democrats), 10 are undecided (6, D and 4, R), and 5 not saying (4, R and 1, D). That's rough. It means to pass, all seven undecided Dem's would have to vote yes, and five of the eight Republicans. Please note that not a single Republican is currently planning to vote yes. However, the fact that they aren't saying or are undecided may mean they are more favorable... after all, you would think most of them would think something by now, right? Right? Of course, there's always the Sen. Reuben Diaz (D) bit... who is fiercely lobbying against it... damn that Democrat.

Sigh. It's a lot, and it's a tangled web. Meanwhile, however, the EHEA is being testified on today in Columbus. I'll get an update for you as soon as I can, but it's at 2:30pm at Room 017 in the Statehouse ... they say it's a small room, so get there early if you plan on getting there, at all.