Texas legislative panel votes to bar using state or local funds to issue same-sex marriage licenses
HOUSTON — Just a week before the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, Texas lawmakers on Wednesday approved a bill in committee that would bar state or local funds from being used to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
Texas already bans same-sex marriage, but that’s being challenged in federal court.
Last year, a federal judge here ruled that the state’s ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional, but put his ruling on hold while the state appealed.
That appeal is pending before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which heard oral arguments in January but is expected to wait to issue its ruling until after the Supreme Court acts.
Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20150422-texas-legislative-panel-votes-to-bar-using-state-or-local-funds-to-issue-same-sex-marriage-licenses.ece
