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Breaking: Vermont passes gay marriage, legislature overrides Governor’s veto

As expected the Vermont state Senate easily exceeded the required 2/3rds requirement for a veto override, voting 23 to 5 shortly after 10 a.m. this morning. This vote reflected the earlier 26-4 vote in favour of the measure in the Senate. (One Senate Republican – Bill Doyle - who had voted for the bill switched to support the Governor’s veto – presumably in solidarity with his governor, while 2 of the bills supporters were not able to be there for the vote, including Ed Flanagan, the only openly gay member of the Senate, and Phil Scott, one of the Republican supporters.)

The real drama was in the House of Representatives which just after 11 a.m. (eastern) voted 100 to 49 to override, barely exceeding the required 2/3rds.

The House vote was in question up to the last minute, following last week’s 95-52 vote in favour of the bill – short of the 2/3rd s margin. The final margin came when 3 of Democratic representatives who had voted against the bill the first time around sided with the majority and supported the override, while another Democratic opponent was absent

The override action happened quickly – after the House gave initial approval last Thursday and final approval on Friday, the Senate met in special session on Monday afternoon to approve changes that the House had made. The Governor vetoed immediately after final passage on Monday. The Senate and House both took up the override on Tuesday morning.MORE

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