New Hampshire same-sex marriage legislation was faced with a major setback on Wednesday, as the New Hampshire House of Representatives failed to approve legislation that, if passed, could have led Gov. John Lynch, D-N.H., to sign a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the state. Wednesday's legislation, which is separate from the same-sex marriage bill passed by the state legislature on May 6, would provide protection for religious institutions and their employees from discrimination lawsuits if they refuse to provide services for same-sex marriage ceremonies.
Lynch has said that he will sign the same-sex marriage bill following the additions of these protections, which were added as an amendment to a bill regarding the performance of marriages.
While the state Senate passed Lynch's recommendation with a vote of 14-10 Wednesday morning, the House later voted down the legislation by a close vote of 186-188. Rather than suspending the bill indefinitely, however, the House voted 207-168 to send the bill to a conference committee comprised of state senators and state representatives. The bill that emerges from that committee will have to be approved on both the House and Senate floors before it heads to Lynch's desk.
"We haven't lost yet, this is part of a process," said State Rep. James Splaine, D-Rockingham.
Splaine said he had expected Wednesday's bill to pass, and pointed to the House's 173-202 vote not to suspend the bill indefinitely as indication that it will be approved in the future.
"The majority of the state [representatives] still want this bill in front of us, want to pass it," he said, adding, "They could have killed this very easily."
House representatives were not given adequate time to research and evaluate the language added to the proposed bill, according to State Rep. Rick Ladd, R-Grafton, who voted against the bill.
"I saw that amendment for the first time today, and that is part of the issue," Ladd said, adding later, "We need to have more time to look at them and see if this is the best product we can have."
Splaine also commented on the difficulty of providing adequate explanation about the legislation so quickly after the changes were made.
"It's tough on a Thursday, when you learn the governor has new language, to explain it by the following Wednesday," he said.
Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, R-Hillsborough played a major role in the House's decision to send the bill to a conference committee, according to Rep. Chip Rice, D-Merrimack.
Vaillancourt, a supporter of the bill legalizing same-sex marriage, voted against Lynch's changes to the marriage performance bill on Wednesday. Rice said that Vaillancourt objected strongly to Lynch's prominent role in the legislative process.
Rice, for his part, voted in favor of passing Lynch's changes but said he agreed with many of Vaillancourt's sentiments.
"I think that is not the normal course of legislative process," Rice said.
Vaillancourt was not available for comment by press time.
The House's vote to reject the bill fell mostly along party lines, according to Splaine, with only 25 Democrats voting against the bill, and six Republicans voting for it. Seven Republicans and 17 Democrats did not vote.
"A number of our supporters weren't there today," Splaine said.
Kevin Smith, executive director for Cornerstone Policy Research, a think tank that advocates for "strong families, limited government and free markets," said several factors may have led legislators to vote against the legislation. Some representatives likely voted to prevent same-sex marriage from being legalized in New Hampshire, Smith said, while others may have been frustrated with the delay of Lynch's decision and the number of iterations of the bill.
