Politics & Government

UPDATED: Pro-Gay Marriage Bill Passes Senate, House Committees

The committees' approvals send same-sex marriage bill to the floor of both legislature branches.

Last update: 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Both Minnesota House and Senate committees approved respective versions of a bill that would extend marriage rights to same-sex couples Tuesday.

First the Senate Judiciary Committee approved SF 925 in a 5-3 vote down party lines. The House Civil Law Committee later approved HF 1054 in a 10-7 vote.

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The approvals push the measure to the floors of both legislature branches for all Minnesota lawmakers to vote on. The deadline for the bill to make it through committees was this Friday.

Now that the committees have given their approval, it's unknown when legislators will vote on whether to make the bill law.

Find out what's happening in Richfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Richfield Patch will update readers as more infomation becomes available.

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Original text:

The Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee approved Senate File 925, a bill extending marriage rights to same-sex couples, on a party-line, 5-3 vote Tuesday afternoon.

Sen. Ron Latz, a DFLer who represents Hopkins, St. Louis Park and Plymouth, chairs the committee and voted in favor of the bill. Also voting in favor were DFLers Richard Cohen of St. Paul, Kathy Sheran of Mankato, Barb Goodwin of Fridley and Kari Dziedzic of Minneapolis.

A highlight of the debate was extended back-and-forth between opponent Sen. Warren Limmer (R-Maple Grove) and .

Sen. Dan Hall (R-Burnsville) spoke against the bill, saying he was a nice guy—not a "bigot" as some have called him—but, he said, he has an opinion. Also voting against the bill was Sen. Julianne Ortmann, a Republican whose district includes Chaska and Chanhassen.

Richard Carlbom, campaign manager for Minnesotans United, called the vote a turning point in Minnesota's history:

“This is truly a historic day for Minnesota and a victory for all Minnesotans," he said in a release. "The passage of this comprehensive legislation today signals a turning point in our state’s history, and we look forward to seeing Senate File 925 come to the floor of the Minnesota Senate for a full vote."

In addition, the Minnesota House of Representatives Civil Law Committee considered the House version of the bill Tuesday morning, hearing testimony from both sides of the issue. A vote is expected later in the day.

Friday is the deadline for a bill to get out of committee. If also passed by the House, lawmakers said they would likely set the bill aside for a while and focus on the budget, according to CBSMinnesota.com.

To watch video of the committee's discussion and vote on the bill, click on the  video at the top of this post or watch it at the UpTake's Livestream webpage.


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