The Spy sat down with Del. Jay Jacobs, R-Kent, for a legislative wrap-up of key issues that moved through the 2012 session of the Maryland General Assembly.
One of the most hotly debated bills this year was the same-sex marriage bill, which brought national attention to Gov. Martin O’Malley when Maryland became the eighth state in the US to allow same-sex marriage.
The bill pit liberal Democrats against other Democrats who aligned with Republican lawmakers to oppose the bill based on religious and historical precedent.
The law is on hold awaiting the outcome of a referendum battle, which many lawmakers agreed to in exchange for supporting the bill.
Unlikely alliance of African-American and conservative religious leaders have created the Maryland Marriage Alliance–to strike down the law in the general election this fall.
Jacobs believes that conventional marriage is for opposite sex couples, but he supported a civil union amendment that was shot down on the House floor.
He also lamented that the same-sex marriage bill took too much attention and time away from the ailing economy, which he said should have been the first priority of the legislature this year.
The interview was broken up into environmental, social, and fiscal issues. Today’s clip focuses on the same-sex marriage bill, which squeaked through the legislature by the narrowest vote of any bill this year, 72-67.
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