Today there’s a reasonable chance the Minnesota House of Representatives will be debating a proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Since the session ends Monday, such a debate would need to happen soon, if it is going to happen at all. With Republicans holding a 72-62 edge in the house it had been thought by nearly everyone that passage was a foregone conclusion, but there has been a bump or two or three along the way, with two Republicans openly opposing the ban and others refusing to say how they will vote. In committee hearings and in the senate floor debate last week, amendment supporters were almost silent — offering no substantive arguments against gay marriage — while opponents railed against the ban in speech after speech. It will be interesting to see if pro-amendment lawmakers continue to sit on their hands today.
The amendment has already passed the state senate and if it passes with a majority in the house it will be placed on the ballot for voter approval in Nov. 2012. The house is in recess until 12:00 Noon central time today. After that you can watch the session live here.
UPDATE: Expect debate on the amendment to begin no earlier than 6 p.m., assuming it comes to the floor tonight, which now seems likely. This may be close.