No vote for HJR 3 in November

All it took to keep a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage off the November ballot was for the Indiana Senate to do nothing.

And nothing is exactly what the Senate did.

When the full Senate votes on HJR 3, it will do so without the controversial second sentence, the one which banned civil unions and any “legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage” in Indiana. This shorter version is the same one the House of Representatives passed two weeks ago, but it isn’t the one the General Assembly approved in 2011.

Amending the Indiana constitution requires three things: approval by the House and Senate, that same approval after legislators have been reelected and support from voters.

Although the old HJR 3 had been supported by the General Assembly prior to the last election, the language change was significant enough that it is as though only the current lawmakers have had the opportunity to vote on it.

Now, the earliest it could possibly be in the hands of Hoosier voters is November 2016 — if the Senate passes it this session and the next General Assembly agrees.

Thursday’s session, the second reading for HJR 3, could only be used to offer amendments. The final vote will take place at a later date, possibly as early as next week.

IU has been a vocal opponent of the amendment since the fall. Primarily, the University has campaigned against the second sentence, which administrators said could interfere with a policy that grants same-sex domestic partners health benefits. Even before the second sentence was eliminated, HJR 3’s supporters said that would not be a problem.

Yet Mark Land, IU associate vice president for university communications, said the University is considering the removal of the sentence and the delay of a referendum a victory.

“The overriding goal would remain the same,” Land said. “We would like to see this thing defeated as a whole. That second sentence was problematic, though.”

The Indiana Family Institute, one of the primary in-state organizations supporting HJR 3, was contacted but could not be reached for comment.

On Thursday, three amendments to HJR 3 were initially filed, although none were proposed in session.

As the afternoon’s session was beginning in the Senate Chamber, Sen. Mike Depth, R-Carmel, sent a tweet. Delph had filed an amendment that would reinsert the second sentence.

“HJR 3’s second sentence is officially dead in the 2014 IGA,” the tweet read. “Not enough support to reinsert it on 2nd reading.”

Less than half an hour later, Delph’s Twitter premonition had come true, as the Senate was adjourned and the 10-year effort to define heterosexual marriage in Indiana’s constitution was put off for another two years at least.

“Marriage,” HJR 3 reads now. “Provides that only marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Indiana.”

Follow reporter Michael Auslen on Twitter @MichaelAuslen.