Indiana’s House Joint Resolution 3 was amended in a 52-43 vote today.
The concerns of many representatives showed HJR-3 would not go to voters until 2016 as a result of this new amendment.
HJR-3’s intention is to define marriage in Indiana “between one man and one woman.” The bill previously said, “a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.” That sentence was removed by Monday’s decision.
Rep. Kevin Mahan, a Republican from Hartford City, supported the amendment despite his worries that the amendment may not go to voters for two years.
“I believe in having good policy,” he said. “If we cannot understand it in this body, what that second sentence means, how can we expect millions of Hoosiers to understand that in November?”
The amended HJR-3 will go before the General Assembly and, if passed with the second sentence deleted, will not go to voters this November.
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