March 10, 2007

Marriage Amendment Killed by Senator Jeffrey Kessler

Senator Jeffrey Kessler, representing Marshall county and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, refused to bring the Senate Joint Resolution SJR-8 (Marriage Protection Amendment) before his committee for an up or down vote. He was encourage to allow a vote on the resolution by many of his fellow senators and co-sponsors of this resolution who support traditional marriage between a man and a woman.

WVFF gathered the signatures of nineteen co-sponsors for this constitutional amendment. Senator Roman Prezioso, of Marion county, was the lead sponsor of this resolution. Co-sponsors were Bailey, Boley, Deem, Edgell, Fanning, Green, Guills, Hall, Helmick, Love, McKenzie, Minard, Oliverio, Plymale, Sharp, and Sypolt. Senators Bowman and Caruth signed on as co-sponsors but later removed their names from the resolution, leaving seventeen senators as co-sponsors, however, both indicated they would support passage of the resolution if it came before them for a vote.

WVFF was confident that had Senator Kessler allowed the resolution to come before his committee, it would have been passed and sent on to the Finance committee. The Finance committee is chaired by Senator Helmick, a co-sponsor of the resolution. We believe he would have moved it through his committee, been passed on the Senate floor and moved over to the House for consideration.

This same resolution language died in Delegate Joe Talbott's Constitutional Revision commmittee in the 2006 session. He too refused to allow a vote in his committee when there was a super majority wanting to consider this legislation.

Your help is needed with Senator Kessler. Please do the following:
Call Senator Jeffrey Kessler 1-877-565-3447 and tell him your frustration of his actions not to allow a vote on SJR-8 in his Judiciary committee. Tell him we will be back in 2008 with a consolidated effort to pass this important legislation to protect marriage as God intended it to be, between a man and a woman.

Finally, click here to find your senator(s) representing you and ask them to become sponsors of this Marriage Protection bill in 2008. Click here to contact your delegates and ask the to do the same. Join WVFF to stay up to date on this and other pro-family legislation. God bless you.

History on this constitutional amendment:

The amendment, if passed, would be placed on the ballot in 2008 and allow voters the opportunity to strengthen West Virginia's one man-one woman marriage law by adding a constitutional amendment to the West Virginia State Constitution. The language for the proposed amendment was drafted by the American Family Association, WVFF's national affiliate, and reads as follows:
 
"Only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this state and its political subdivisions. This state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for same-sex relationships to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities or effects of marriage".

SJR-8 (Marriage Protection Amendment) has been double referenced to both the Senate Judiciary and Senate Finance Committees. The marriage amendment will first have to be placed on the judiciary agenda by Judiciary Chairman Jeffrey Kessler and be permitted to be considered and voted on in his committee prior to going to second reference in the finance committee.
 
This same process will need to take place in the finance committee with Finance Chairman Walt Helmick permitting the marriage amendment to be considered and voted on in his committee prior to SJR-8 going to the Senate floor for a full vote.

Pray with us that God will touch the hearts of these men and women that they will honor God by seeing this resolution passed and the voters of West Virginia given a chance to strengthen our state's marriage law.