New York Marriage Bill Gets GOP Boost

The Log Cabin Republicans announced Tuesday that the GOP's New York leadership in both the state senate and assembly are going to allow Republican legislators to make "conscience votes" on Gov. David Paterson's marriage-equality bill rather than pressuring party members to vote against it, giving the legislation a much stronger likelihood of picking up Republican votes in both chambers.

The development may be particularly important in the senate, where Democrats hold a slim 32-30 majority, four Democrats have already said they will vote against the marriage bill, and equality advocates will need to pick up several GOP votes in order to pass the legislation. Strategists expect the legislation to sail through the assembly, which already passed an identical bill in 2007 by a vote of 85 to 61.

Jeff Cook, legislative adviser for the Log Cabin Republicans, said the decision stood in stark contrast to the tack taken in 2007, when assembly minority leader Jim Tedisco and the GOP leadership pressured assembly Republicans to vote against marriage equality.

"We were successful in that environment in getting four Republicans to vote yes, making it the first bipartisan vote on marriage in a legislative chamber," Cook said. "But we would have probably done better if there was a 'vote of conscience.'"

Cook declined to discuss the vote count on the Republican side of the aisle in the senate but said that today's decision was an important turning point. "Republicans realize that marriage equality is inevitable in New York and they do not want to vote against this," he said. "I think they realize that the polling is changing very fast and they do not want our party to be perceived as being hostile on this issue." A Siena poll released yesterday found 53% of the state's voters want Governor Paterson's marriage-equality bill passed, while 39% are opposed to it.

Cook called it "significant" that "the center of gravity in both parties has shifted on this issue to where Republicans now feel like their conference needs to be neutral and Democrats feel their conference needs to be emphatic in support."

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid79898.asp
April 21, 2009
By Kerry Eleveld