NY State is Next! And Timing is Everything

In NY state, there is a push to get the legislature to vote on marriage equality in front of the state Senate for a vote. Why? Because the timing is good now. Next year, with all the mid-term elections, not as good.

The other bit of timing is this: ME did not help the movement in terms of people's confidence in the vote in the Senate sticking.

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In New York, Democrats hold a shaky 32-to-30 majority in the Senate, and some senators oppose allowing the legislation to come to the floor for a vote.

Those who favor the bill say they realize they are risking another significant defeat but are determined to get legislators on record on the issue. They also say that now may be the best time to push lawmakers to take up the bill, given that next year all 212 members of the Legislature will face re-election.

Estimates vary, but supporters of the bill believe they can count on about 25 votes for the legislation at this time.

“The stakes are much higher now, following Maine, and it would be an enormous boost to the movement to prevail in New York,” said Matt Foreman, a gay rights advocate who has served as the head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Empire State Pride Agenda, New York’s leading gay rights group.

But, he added, “if we don’t win marriage in New York in this special session, it’s going to be a very hard lift next year.”

What is slightly daffy about all the issues of voting is that it reminds us of how crazy it is to be reminded that some of the rights we all enjoy would not hold up in a general election...including tax write offs of all shapes and sizes.

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Pace!

B