Vermont governor
Jim Douglas would oppose a law granting same-sex
marriages, according to the Associated Press. The Republican
governor said Thursday that the state's "current civil
union law is sufficient."
State senator
John Campbell, who said he would introduce the bill during
the legislature's next session, said it won't gain much
traction without the governor's backing.
Instead, the
governor said, he would rather the legislature concentrate
on the state's fiscal shortfalls. Vermont has accrued a
$36.8 million revenue shortfall, with a $27 million
request for new spending. However, Campbell and
Vermont's Freedom to Marry Task Force's Beth Robinson say
that Douglas is asserting that the legislature can only take
on one issue at a time.
"The notion that
working on civil rights takes away from these other
issues really is a false one," Robinson told the Associated
Press. (Michelle Garcia, The Advocate)