HJR-3 debate heads to Indiana Senate committee

Breaking: Indiana Senate Rules Committee votes 8-4 to send HJR-3 to Senate floor.

Previous coverage

The contentious debate over a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage moves to an Indiana Senate committee Monday afternoon, where it is widely expected to pass.

The biggest question in the Senate — where Republicans outnumber Democrats by a 37-13 margin — is if senators will add back the amendment's second sentence that would prohibit civil unions and similar arrangements.

If that happens, it likely wouldn't occur until the proposal reaches the Senate floor, probably sometime later this week.

The House passed the amendment by a 57-40 vote nearly two weeks ago, but first deleted the second sentence to make it more palatable to some Republicans who were bucking the House GOP leadership's support of the measure.

Monday's hearing before the Rules and Legislative Procedure Committee will be in the Senate chambers, immediately after the Senate adjourns. The full Senate convenes at 1:30 p.m. and is expected to be done with its work by about 2 p.m.

Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne, assigned House Joint Resolution 3 to the 12-member Rules Committee, which he chairs.

Testimony will be taken from supporters and opponents during the hearing.

In 2011, when the amendment was passed overwhelmingly by the House and Senate, all eight Republicans now on the Senate Rules Committee voted for it, and all four Democrats voted against it. The measure passed the full Senate by a 40-10 vote, with three Democrats joining all 37 Republicans.

So far this year, several Senate Republicans have objected to the second sentence, but only one, Sen. Ron Alting, Lafayette, has publicly said he plans to switch his vote to "no."

Alting told the Lafayette Journal & Courier on Friday that he's changing his vote because his constituents from "all walks of life" now are 10 to 1 against the amendment.

Among the three Democrats who voted for it in 2011, Sen. Tim Skinner of Terre Haute, also has said publicly he plans to vote against it this year.

In Indiana, constitutional amendments need to be passed, in the same form, by two separately elected legislatures before they can be voted on by the public. If the Senate passes the House version, then the 2015 legislature would need to pass it again before it could go to voters in November 2016.

But if the Senate restores the second sentence, then the proposal would go back to the House, where the bill sponsor could concur. Or, it could be sent to a conference committee of House and Senate members to try to come to an agreement, which would then go back to each chamber for final approval.

If the second sentence is restored, the issue could go to voters in November.

Call Star reporter Barb Berggoetz at (317) 444-6294. Follow her on Twitter: @barbberg.