A Senate bill codifying Gov. Matt Bevin's early executive order striking county clerks' names from marriage licenses has seen multiple delays in committee, but it could finally receive a hearing in the coming days.
Asked about the holdup, Republican Senate President Robert Stivers said lawmakers have been waiting for more input from the Bevin administration as they sift through a mountain of details.
"People don't realize how complicated this decision has made the laws of the United States and the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky," he told reporters.
Charging that the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court Obergefell v. Hodges ruling legalizing same-sex marriage opened "Pandora's box," Stivers pointed to gender specific language in Kentucky statutes dealing with inheritance, property rights, and the county where couples are required to obtain marriage licenses - all in need of updating. He said he believes issues with the bill have mostly been resolved, however, and the legislation will soon move forward.
Gov. Bevin's order came in response to a protracted legal battle between Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis and a federal court over her refusal to sign licenses for gay couples.
