Ball Will Vote No
June 23rd, 2011
The ever controversial Sen. Greg Ball has announced after a few weeks of teasing and working on religious exemptions that he will vote against the same-sex marriage bill. That leaves three undecided Republicans. A number of Republicans, including Ball, have stated that they think same-sex marriage will pass if it comes to a vote. If the vote takes place it will happen very late tonight, as the Assembly and Senate aren’t expected to start passing parts of the major deal until after 9 or 930, or even possibly tomorrow, or next week. Who knows? Here is Ball’s statement:
“Knowing that marriage equality was likely to pass, I thought it important to force the issue of religious protections. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the distinct opportunity of listening to literally thousands of residents, on both sides of this issue, by holding an undecided stance. I thought it was important to listen to all of my constituents and hold an undecided position until the actual bill language was written and everyone’s voice had been heard. Now that the final text is public, I am proud that I have secured some strong protections for religious institutions and basic protections for religious organizations. The bill still lacks many of the basic religious protections I thought were vital, and for this reason, and as I did in the Assembly, I will be voting ‘no.’”
Republicans tried to beat ball in a primary last year because of the many controversies surrounding his behavior towards women. But he won the Republican primary and moved from the Assembly to the Senate.
By David King on June 23, 2011, 8:43 pmIn category: Albany, Civil Rights, Eye on Albany | No Comments »
