Ballot Wording on Same-Sex Marriage Is Expanded
The House of Delegates unanimously agreed to amend a bill that will place a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage on the November ballot, changing the wording so voters see the full text of the amendment and not just a synopsis.
The Senate amended House Bill 101 last week to include the full text. The bill creating the ballot question will go to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) for his consideration. Opponents of the same-sex marriage amendment said the original wording of the question was vague and misleading because voters would not realize that they were also voting to prohibit civil unions. Critics of the amendment plan said it could also prohibit contracts between all unmarried couples.
"It's important that voters know exactly what they're voting for," said Dyana Mason , executive director of Equality Virginia, the state's largest gay rights group.
The rewritten part of the ballot question would read: "That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions.
"This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage."
Supporters of the amendment say it is needed to ensure that the state will not have to recognize marriages or civil unions from other states. Several said the more-specific language would help their cause.
"This is . . . similar to language that was on the ballot in Ohio, and it passed," said Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William).
Lt. Gov. Put to Test as a Tiebreaker
Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) was called upon to break his first tie as president of the Virginia Senate.
Bolling voted against a bill that would have required Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) to appoint a former prisoner or relative of a current or former inmate to the state's Board of Correctional Education.
The bill originated in the House, where it stated that the governor should appoint three teachers, an elected official and a family member of an inmate to the board, which oversees educational programs for the Department of Corrections.
A Senate committee stripped out language about the teachers and the elected official, leaving the prisoner or his family. The committee passed the measure 8 to 7, sending it to the floor of the Senate, where it deadlocked 20 to 20.
The lieutenant governor's only official duty is to preside over the Senate and break ties, but 20 to 20 votes are rare. Bolling's opportunity came 41 days into the 60-day session.
Bolling said he could not support putting former inmates on the board. "Correctional facilities are not intended to be participatory institutions," he said.
T.C. Williams Change Advances
The General Assembly has given preliminary approval to a bill that would allow T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria to start its next school year before Labor Day 2006 and end it before the end of May 2007.
The changes are necessary so school construction workers can have the entire summer of 2007 to finish their work as the school moves to a new facility on King Street and so the system can prepare for the next school year.
Traditionally, school systems in Virginia must begin after Labor Day.
Senate Bill 366, sponsored by Sen. Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), passed the Senate and was unanimously approved by the House Education Committee.
Staff writer Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report.