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发帖数: 19713 | 1 NJ Senate Leaders Challenge Christie on Marriage Referendum
By Julie Bolcer
NJSenateDemocratsGayMarriagex390 (Screengrab) | Advocate.com
Following approval of the marriage equality bill in the New Jersey senate
judiciary committee on Tuesday, the trio of Democratic leaders backing the
measure rejected a suggestion from Governor Chris Christie that the issue be
put to voters in a referendum this fall.
“We do not put civil rights questions on the ballot,” said Senate Majority
Leader Loretta Weinberg, a co-sponsor of the bill, at an afternoon news
conference in Trenton. She had cautioned during the committee hearing that
New Jersey voters rejected a ballot question that would have allowed women
to vote in 1915, five years before Congress granted the right.
Weinberg accused Republican members on the panel of taking a “cop out” by
saying that even though they may not be opposed to same-sex marriage, they
believe the issue should be decided by voters.
“We’re not putting the governor’s appointments to the Supreme Court on
the ballot,” she said. The remark stung in the wake of Christie’s
announcement Monday that he would nominate Bruce Harris, an African-American
Republican mayor of Chatham Borough, as the first openly gay justice on the
high court.
Senator Weinberg, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Senator Ray Lezniak,
the primary sponsors of the bill, reacted to a statement Christie made at a
town hall while the committee hearing was underway. The governor, who
appeared in recent days to be wavering on his veto ultimatum, renewed his
promise to reject a same-sex marriage bill outright and called for lawmakers
to put a referendum on the ballot for voters this fall. A Quinnipiac
University poll last week found that New Jersey voters support same-sex
marriage by a margin of 52% to 42%.
"Let's let the people of New Jersey decide what is right for the state,” he
said.
The marriage equality bill, championed by Democratic leaders of both houses
as their top priority this session, passed the senate panel Tuesday in an 8-
4 party line vote. Senator Paul Sarlo, a Bergen County Democrat who voted
against the bill two years ago, changed his vote to yes.
Sweeney expects the bill will pass when it comes for a floor vote on
February 13. An earlier version of the bill died in the senate in 2010 with
a 20-14 vote. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver has also expressed confidence
the bill will pass her chamber.
However, Democrats in both houses still need to secure enough votes for an
override in the event of a veto, a prospect that seemed likely after the
latest comments from the Republican governor. The lawmakers urged Christie
to allow members from his party to vote yes on the bill despite his plan to
veto it.
“When he does that, it’s my hope that he would give direction to his
Republican colleagues that they should vote their conscience,” said Senator
Lezniak, who co-sponsored the bill two years ago with Weinberg. “Because I
know that if they vote their conscience, not only will they vote for this
bill but they will override the governor’s veto.”
Sweeney, who abstained from the vote in 2010 and later called his decision a
“mistake,” said he has spoken with “many Republicans” who want to vote
for the bill. So far, only one Republican senator, Jennifer Beck, publicly
supports the bill, but at least a handful of them would be needed to reach
the two-thirds majority. Democrats control the chamber by 23-16, with one
open seat, and Sweeney has expressed confidence that as many as 22 Democrats
support the bill.
“If we have to go for an override we’ll work every angle we possibly have
to,” he said during the news conference. |
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