Illinois vote on equal marriage could take place as soon as today
A vote will take place in the US state of Illinois on Tuesday, on a bill to legalise equal marriage, reports suggest.
The Illinois House will reconvene, and according to some, will make its final vote on a bill to legalise equal marriage, on Tuesday. Previously it was believed the bill would not be called forward until at least Wednesday
“Today is the day,” Anthony Martinez, executive director of The Civil Rights Agenda told BuzzFeed.
At the beginning of Tuesday’s session, Representative Greg Harris, the chief sponsor of the equal marriage bill, amended the language in order to change the date the law would go into effect.
The amendment removed the 30-day effective date, which would mean the law would not take effect until 1 June 2014, but would require only 60 votes to pass rather than 71. Rules dictate that bills passed in the veto session can go into effect on that date.
If the bill is passed, it will go back to the Senate for a vote, where it already passed earlier this year.
Harris has still not revealed the number of yes votes he has secured for the bill, but reports suggest that it is just below the 60 required.
The bill was scheduled for a vote in June, however Representative Harris did not call the bill forward as he said he needed more time to gather support for it.
