Capitol Letters: Eliminating marriage licenses?
By Ryan Suppe, State Politics Reporter
A Republican state senator who vowed to protect “traditional” marriage plans to propose legislation that would eliminate marriage licenses in Idaho — a GOP tactic in other states to prevent same-sex marriages.
The proposal, which must be introduced by a legislative committee before it becomes a bill and is publicized, would eliminate licenses and instead direct officiants to issue marriage “certificates” following a ceremony between “two qualified people, a man and a woman,” said Sen. Scott Herndon, R-Sagle, in a Tuesday social media video.
House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, told the Idaho Statesman that the proposal appears to codify that “there would only be marriage recognized between a man and a woman.”
Republicans in other states, including Alabama and Oklahoma, moved to stop issuing marriage licenses altogether after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 ruled the states must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Rubel said she expected a Republican bill this year that would target same-sex marriage, after the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The 1973 decision that granted federal protection for abortion, like the 2015 case that protected same-sex marriage, hinged on constitutional privacy rights.
“When the Supreme Court stripped away the right to privacy, it really threw all of those rights into question,” Rubel told the Statesman by phone.
Herndon is scheduled to introduce the proposal in the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee, which meets at 1:30 p.m. on Monday at the Idaho Capitol building in Boise.
Read my full story here.
What to expect today
8 a.m. Joint Finance-Appropriations. The State Board of Education is scheduled to present its budget.
9 a.m. House and Senate Health and Welfare. Juliet Charron, administrator for the Division of Medicaid, will give lawmakers an update on Medicaid expansion.
9 a.m. House State Affairs. Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, will present draft legislation to prohibit lawmakers from lobbying within six months of leaving office. Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, has draft legislation planned on sales tax holdbacks.
1:30 p.m. House Judiciary, Rules and Administration. Lawmakers will hear presentations on the Sex Offender Management Board and Sex Offender Registry. Draft legislation on “reporting abuse,” sponsored by Herndon and Rep. Heather Scott, is also on the agenda.
1:30 p.m. Senate Judiciary, Rules and Administration. Herndon is scheduled to propose his marriage license legislation.
Find the full list of committee meetings and agendas for the House here, and for the Senate here.
Catch up on last session
Last year, in 81 days of the legislative session, the Statesman wrote at least 84 in-depth stories and 54 Capitol Letters newsletters, covering more than 40 pieces of legislation.
Lost track of high-profile bills? We got that covered. Find out where they landed at the end of last year’s regular legislative session here.
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