Lawmakers will face plenty of challenges when they meet in January for the 2009 legislative session, with the top priority being the creation of a balanced two-year budget amid a tanking economy. But one hot-button issue that's likely to be left off the agenda is gay marriage.
The GOP-controlled state Senate has voted three times since 2005 to pass the proposed amendment, which would have to pass two consecutive, separately elected General Assemblies and then win approval in a statewide vote to take effect.
But resolutions supporting the proposed amendment have twice died in the Democrat-controlled House.
Sen. Brandt Hershman, a Republican from Wheatfield who has pushed the measure in the past, told The Indianapolis Star that he doesn't plan to raise the issue next year unless the House takes action first.
"I think the issue is still relevant in that it continues to be debated in a variety of states and continues to be heard by a variety of courts," Hershman said. "However, if action is to be taken this time, it would be my intent to see it start in the House, because that's been the holdup in the past, and until that legislative entanglement is resolved, there's not much to be achieved through the Senate yet again."
House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has repeatedly said that Indiana's law prohibiting same-sex marriages is working.
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