Maine House Passes Equal Marriage Bill

After easily passing the Maine Senate last week, the Equal Marriage Bill came up for a vote in the Maine House of Representatives today, initiating a three hour long debate on the merits of becoming the fifth state in the country to legalize same-sex marriage.

In an initial effort to halt the bill, Republicans introduced an amendment that would send the question to a statewide referendum.  That amendment was defeated by a vote of 85-62.

After all was said and done, the House voted to enact the bill on a vote of 89-57, sending the bill back to the Maine Senate for final enactment, and sending the gathered crowd into thunderous applause.  Of interest in today’s vote was that it did not entirely break down along party lines.  Notable for their break with their party are as follows:

Republicans Voting Yes

• Representative Michael Beaulieu of Auburn
• Representative James Campbell, Sr. of Newfield
• Representative Patrick Flood of Winthrop
• Representative Jayne Crosby Giles of Belfast
• Representative Kerri Prescott of Topsham
• Representative David Richardson of Carmel
• Representative Meredith Strang Burgess of Cumberland

Democrats Voting No

• Representative Stephen Beaudette of Biddeford
• Representative Dick Blanchard of Old Town
• Representative Sheryl Briggs of Mexico
• Representative Herbert Clark of Millinocket
• Representative Edward Finch of Fairfield
• Representative Stephen P. Hanley of Gardiner
• Representative Michael A. Lajoie of Lewiston
• Representative Michael A. Shaw of Standish
• Representative Charles Theriault of Madawaska
• Representative John Tuttle, Jr. of Sanford
• Representative Michael Willette of Presque Isle

Governor Baldacci, who has been dancing around the issue his entire career, has not publicly said whether or not he would sign the bill – but he has sent out hints that he will not stand in the bill’s way of becoming law.

The bills passage will of course activate the opponents of the measure, who will now attempt to gather the more than 55,000 signatures they will need to get it on the ballot.  If they succeed, Maine voters will have a chance to reject the law by enacting the “people’s veto” – a constitutional mechanism for voters in the state to overturn the actions of their legislature.

One thing is for sure – despite it sailing through the legislature, this issue will not go away any time soon.

UPDATE:  Full video footage of the debate on the bill can be found here.