Coming on the heals of the California Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage, the Pennsylvania Senate is playing a shell game with the MPA effort in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Senate has the ball in their court, but is stalling, claiming that they need certain commitments from the Pennsylvania House before continuing. This is simply not true!
The MPA, House Bill 1250, is in the Senate, it is only voted upon by the Senate members. It needs to clear the Senate before a House vote can occur. Right now, there is NOTHING that the PA House needs to do in order for the Senate to vote.
Below is an excellent “lay of the land” by Peg Luksik:
The tactic is to stall the bill between the chambers, putting grassroots activists in a "no-man's land". The Senate side of this tactic could say they needed a particular commitment from the House before they could act, and the House side could claim that since they didn't have the bill at all, no promises could be made. The citizens were then effectively trapped between the chambers with no effective place to go. At the moment, that tactic is working.
THE REALITY IS THAT THE SENATE PASSES BILLS ALL THE TIME THAT DO NOT GET THROUGH THE HOUSE, AND VICE VERSA. EACH CHAMBER IS SEPARATE FROM THE OTHER. AND RIGHT NOW WE ARE WORKING ON A BILL IN THE SENATE. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THAT BILL GETS TO THE HOUSE SIDE IS OUR PROBLEM, NOT THE SENATORS' PROBLEM.
With that in mind, here is what we need to do:
1. Tell your Senator that if the bill doesn't get out of the Senate, the arguments about the House's possible actions are moot. Our concern today is to get the bill out of the Senate. And you need your Senator to agree to three votes.
2. The first vote we need is to take the bill off the table. We need 26 votes. If we win this vote, we need Sen. Pileggi to run the bill. He has 10 days to put it on the calendar. Senator Pileggi needs to hear from you so he knows that a vote in the Senate is necessary. If he, or any other Senator, mentions the House, tell them that we will deal with the House when the bill gets there - his job is to get it there.
3. The second vote is to oppose the Vance amendment. We only need 25 votes here because when the chamber is tied, the NO's win. Any amendment needs at least 26 votes to pass. [Senator] Vance’s amendment would allow for civil unions, gutting the heart of the bill. That is the amendment that must be defeated.
4. The last vote is passage of SB 1250 itself. We need 26 votes here. Contact your Senator to get a commitment on the three votes (YES on taking it off the table, NO on Vance, YES on 1250).
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