May 26, 2015 4:47 PM

Updated: Senate Intergovernmental Relations re-votes on anti-gay marriage language

Sen. Menendez said would have voted “no” if he’d have known what was in the bill; Sen. Bettencourt says “sometimes the obvious is hiding in plain sight.”

After suspending “every rule in the book” – that’s the way one senator put it – the Senate Intergovernmental Relations Committee on Tuesday afternoon re-voted on a bill that now contains the same kind of anti-gay marriage language that was in a bill that died in the Texas House about two weeks ago.

Earlier in the day, Quorum Report had pointed out that Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, had quietly inserted anti-gay marriage language into the county omnibus bill, a “catch-all” bill for county governments, before it had been passed out of the committee he chairs on Monday.

The committee substitute for House Bill 2977 as offered by Lucio would prohibit state and local governments from using public funds to issue same-sex marriage licenses, just like the failed House Bill 4105 by Rep. Cecil Bell, R-Magnolia.

Under pressure from his fellow Democrats on the panel, Sen. Lucio asked the Senate to suspend rules so that he could bring the bill back to the committee for a do-over.

By Scott Braddock