A bill that would create legal civil unions for Colorado's same-sex couples will be heard today in the Republican controlled House where it needs only one vote to pass. However, the House Judiciary committee, which is hearing the bill today, defeated a similar bill in 2011 on a party-line vote.
UPDATE:
Joining five other House Democrats, Republican Rep. B.J. Nikkel of Loveland voted in favor of Colorado's civil unions bill, effectively passing the bill on a 6-5 vote late Thursday night.
The bill now faces votes in the House Finance and Appropriations committees before it makes it to the House floor.
EARLIER:
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In an unexpected turn of events, Republican Rep. Mark Barker suffered a stroke and was hospitalized Tuesday night and will not be able to attend the hearing today. The Denver Post reports that House Speaker Frank McNulty selected Republican Rep. Randy Baumgardner to fill in for Rep. Barker for the civil unions bill hearing.
The replacement of Barker by Baumgardner seems unlikely to affect the outcome of today's vote on Senate Bill 2. On Wednesday, McNulty said that he would fill Barker's seat on the committee with someone who shares Barker's point of view on the issue -- Barker opposes civil unions, as does Baumgardner.
Last week, three Republicans in the House joined Democrats in approving SB-2. And in the House, Fox31 reports that several House Republicans have expressed support for the civil unions proposal, however none of them are on the House Judiciary committee. If the bill gets through the House committee today, it could very likely pass the full House -- Republicans only hold a one seat majority and there is enough bipartisan support to push it through.
"I don't have anyone in my family who's gay, as far as I know," Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, one of three republicans who voted for last year’s bill said according to KDVR. "I'm not here for any reason except to say that this bill, the civil unions bill, is the right thing to do."
If the bill got to Hickenlooper's desk, it is expected that he would sign it into law. In his State of the State Address at the beginning of 2012, Hickenlooper urged lawmakers to "pass civil unions this year."
Last year the Capitol was abuzz with rumors that there was some Republican support for a civil unions bill in the House, but after it failed to pass Mark Ferrandino (D-Denver), the bill's sponsor at the time, made it a goal to equip the bill with a Republican sponsor this year.
Representative Brian Del Grosso, R-Loveland, was rumored to be one of those open to civil unions.
I think the deciding factor at the end of the day was that 2006, so just four and a half years ago, (Colorado voters) said, we don’t support that and so I don’t feel like, as a legislator it’s not my... I shouldn’t override the will of the voter.
But in early April, a poll by Public Policy Polling found that contrary to the feelings of 2006, 62 percent of Coloradans would now be in favor of a civil unions bill and 53 percent would also be in favor of gay marriage.
While this year's Senate Bill 2 does have the support of some Republicans, it still does not have a Republican sponsor in the House where they hold a one-vote majority.
According to The Denver Post, proponents of the civil unions bill are holding a noon rally on the steps of the City-County Building. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino will be among the speakers in attendance.
Today's hearing begins at 1:30, but there are several bills up before civil unions so the hearing is expected to run late.
LOOK: Civil Unions bill rally
