Winkler wants quick vote on ‘jobs before gay marriage ban’ amendment

DFL Rep. Ryan Winkler of Golden Valley sent a letter to Majority Leader Matt Dean on Thursday pressing for a hearing on an amendment that would direct the Minnesota House to pass a budget bill before it can deal with constitutional amendments such as one banning marriage rights for same-sex couples. Republicans had promised to put the deficit ahead of wedge social issues but religious conservatives have already begun a campaign to get them on the ballot.

“We should not spend our time debating divisive social issues and constitutional amendments,” wrote Winkler. “Putting social issues on the ballot will do nothing to get Minnesotans back to work, deliver the highest-quality education for our students or improve Minnesota’s quality of life.”

He added, “As Speaker [Kurt] Zellers himself has stated, job creation and the budget deficit must be the Legislature’s highest priorities.”

Rep. Ryan Winkler

The rules amendment, offered by DFL Rep. Paul Thissen of Minneapolis, would have forced the House to deal with the budget before proposing constitutional amendments. Majority Leader Matt Dean instead moved to have it referred to committee, and his motion passed along party lines. Winkler said that it should be heard in committee as soon as possible.

Already the issue of a constitutional amendment banning relationship rights for same-sex couples has popped up. Next Friday, the Minnesota Family Council is hosting its “Family and Marriage Summit,” which will focus on getting an amendment on the ballot in 2012. The group invited all Minnesota legislators to the event.

And on religious right radio last week, Republicans vowed to push the issue forward. Two newly elected legislators, Sens. Dan Hall and Pam Wolf, of Bloomington and Spring Lake Park respectively, discussed the upcoming session on Pastor Brad Brandon‘s radio program.

“On social issues, I would like to see something to move forward with the [Defense of Marriage Act],” Wolf said.

“DOMA we will get to, the marriage amendment for sure,” Hall said.

“I think we will see that on the ballot in 2012,” Wolf said, “but the top priority will be getting our economy going.”

The Minnesota Family Council is already pushing back on the amendment to make fixing the budget deficit the top priority. Chuck Darrell, communications director for the group, tweeted on Thursday, “Same crowd that boasted they’d legalize [same-sex marriage] in 2011 offers phony rules amendment to scare GOP away from ‘divisive’ marriage amendment.’”

But despite noise from the Minnesota Family Council and some Republican legislators, the Minnesota Log Cabin Republicans said they trust GOP leadership will stick to their promise to focus on the budget.

“The incoming Majority Leader [of the state Senate] and Speaker [of the state House of Representatives] have made it crystal clear they’re not going to be focusing on social issues,” Mark Kneif, chair of the Minnesota Log Cabins, told reporter James Sanna. “The Minnesota Family Council is pushing that…but I don’t think they’ll get much traction.”

Read Winkler’s letter:

rw.letter.to.rep.dean.1.6.11 –