This is the year

Fifty state legislators, including local progressives co-sponsor marriage equality bills

Reps Donna Walsh and Larry Valencia have both
signed on as marriage equality co-sponsors

By Will Collette

According to RI Future, more than fifty legislators signed on as co-sponsors to the House and Senate versions of marriage equality bills that were introduced on Day #3 of the new General Assembly session.

Most of our local South County legislators are on that list of 53 co-sponsors:

• Rep. Donna Walsh
• Rep. Larry Valencia
• Rep. Teresa Tanzi
• Rep. Donald Lally
• Rep. Bob Craven (one of Charlestown’s solicitors, newly elected to represent North Kingstown)
• Sen. Sue Sosnowski
• Sen. Cathie Cool Rumsey (newly elected).

Rep. Spencer Dickinson did not

Conspicuously absent from the list of South County co-sponsors are Rep. Spencer Dickinson, Senator Jim Sheehan and the General Assembly members from Westerly.

Newly elected Senator Christopher Ottiano (Portsmouth, Bristol) is the lone Republican among the 53 co-sponsors. I wonder what that will cost him.

House Speaker Gordon Fox and Senate President Theresa Paiva Weed have both given their assurances that marriage equality will be voted on this year by the full membership of both bodies, although Paiva-Weed, a long-time marriage equality opponent, said she could not predict the outcome.