All seven Democratic members of the
Illinois House panel considering a gay marriage bill voted in favor
of civil unions.
The 11-member House Executive Committee
will hear the measure when it convenes Tuesday at 3PM.
While few of the 7 Democrats on the
panel have publicly discussed their position on marriage, all voted
in 2010 in favor of the state's civil unions law.
Three Republicans on the committee
voted against the measure. The fourth, Rep. Joe Sosnowski of
Rockford, who was elected to office in 2010, has publicly stated his
opposition to marriage equality.
“I believe that the definition of
marriage is between one man and one woman, and I do not support any
change to that definition,” he said in a statement. “Our
legislative time should be spent fixing our horrible budget and
creating opportunities for people to work and support their
families.”
The measure which seeks to make
Illinois the 10th state to legalize marriage equality
cleared the Senate on Valentine's Day, with a 34-21 vote.
Democratic Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth told
Peoria CBS affiliate WMBD that she believes the bill will clear the
House.
“I do believe that the bill will pass
because the sponsor made it very clear that he would not call the
bill if he didn't have the votes and I think it's going to pass with
some bipartisanship as well,” Gordon-Booth said.
The sponsor Gordon-Booth was referring
to is Rep. Greg Harris of Chicago. Harris was also the House
champion of the civil unions bill.