By Diane Silver
Word has come from the Kansas Equality Coalition that the state House of Representatives plans to vote tomorrow on a bill banning domestic partner registries throughout the state.
We think the bill could void the registry passed by the Lawrence City Commission in August. The legislation -- House Bill 2299 -- would also make it impossible for any other city in Kansas to pass a registry.
Call your representative in the Kansas House NOW. You must call before they go into session at 11 a.m. tomorrow. Tell them to vote NO.
More details, talking points and contact information for legislators can be found at the Equality Coalition web site.
To find your representative, check here.
(Transparency alert: I helped write the KEC action alert.)
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4 comments:
I've just been to the Kansas House and Senate websites and can find no evidence that this bill is scheduled for discussion tomorrow, or for that matter, at any time in this legislative year!
Wasn't this voted on and passed last March?
A search of the House of Rep (online) archives shows that the last official mention of this bill was 11 months ago in 3/07.
What am I missing here?
Gary Bachman
DAMN! It's right there in the middle of page four! Feb.20, 2008! But it's not listed on the weekly "house calendar", and there is no mention of it in the archives since 3/07. Interestingly, I have a copy of tomorrows calendar that I printed earlier this evening and 2299 is NOT on that copy.
I am sorry if I have slowed down the importance of getting this message out.
I am already planning to be in Topeka tomorrow morning with a couple of hundred social work students and faculty from across the state. We meet at 9. I'll see what we can do: we're planning on being at the capital in the afternoon already...
Last year, the bill was passed out of a House committee and sent to the House floor where it sat over the interim between sessions. This is one of those rare years where a bill can linger on the House agenda from session to session. Given the committee action from last year, the bill was and is eligible for a vote by the full House at any time.
No formal action is needed to bring the bill up for a vote. All that has to happen is for the Republican House leadership to decide to allow the full House to vote on it. That is what has happened.
KEC has received word that the bill is coming up for a vote by the full House tomorrow.
In any legislative action, there can always be last minute changes. But this is what KEC knows at this time.
Gary, it looks like we were posting simultaneously. Sudden votes like this are the norm in any legislative body. The House goes into session at 11 am. Anyone you can reach before that time will help.
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