4:50PM (Friday): The Cuomo administration and legislative leaders have reached agreement on language to protect religious institutions from obligations to recognize same-gender marriage, two people involved in the negotiations said on Friday afternoon, potentially paving the way for a vote on the marriage legislation.
Senate Republicans were still discussing the marriage bill in a closed-door meeting on Friday afternoon; it remained unclear when — or if — they would permit a vote on the broader legislation. The State Assembly, which approved an earlier version of the same-gender marriage bill last week, would need to approve the new language before the full bill could become law.
Emerging from a meeting with Speaker Sheldon Silver, Assemblyman Daniel J. O’Donnell, a Manhattan Democrat who sponsored the Assembly version of the bill, said that there was an “agreement in principle” on the new language. He predicted that the Assembly would vote to adopt the new language on Friday.
As of Friday morning, the number of senators who had voiced support for the marriage measure — 31 out of 62, one short of a majority — had not changed in over a week.
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4 Responses
how would this change anything?
Marriage is a religious institution the government has no place being involved at all.
Our government and country is following in the foot steps of the Greeks and Romans and the US will suffer the same fate.
@coffee addict: if a gay couple applies for membership as a couple at your shul, what would you do? The amended law will protect your shul from a discrimination suit if it doesn’t recognize them as a married couple. However, a private, secular company will be required to recognize them as a couple and offer the same benefits and plans as they do for any other married couple.
you stupid NY’ers keep voting for these rotten people and you get what you deserve!