Another session of the Minnesota Legislature convenes today, and lawmakers are predictibly focusing their attention on getting a bonding bill passed, fixing spiraling costs for health and human services, and ensuring that more money is poured into education.
Predictably, too, a proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman has also been raised. Republicans are determined that the measure gets a full up-or-down vote in the Senate -- where the issue promises to be contentious.
The issue is especially controversial within the DFL party, and part of the Republicans' desire for a vote is based on the fact that Democrats are split on the subject. Still, it's a measure that deserves a full Senate vote. A vote shouldn't have to slow the progress of other important issues, and those who argue that Minnesota already defines marriage as between one man and one woman don't take into account the fact that judges are even now striking those laws down across the country. Clearly, a majority of Minnesotans support traditional marriage, so the least the Senate can do is put all its members on record.
There are some Republicans who'd like to use the marriage amendment issue to put pressure on District 22 Sen. Jim Vickerman, DFL-Tracy, but Vickerman said this week that he's in favor of placing the amendment on the 2006 ballot. In this decision, he stands with the majority of his constituents. As he told the Daily Globe, "The public ought to have the right to vote."
