The Burlington Free Press reports:
Gov. Jim Douglas has vetoed legislation that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry in Vermont.
Douglas delivered his veto message back to the Senate on the same-sex marriage bill, saying the legislature does not provide any more rights to same-sex couples and that he believes civil unions are sufficient.
The governor’s veto came moments after the state Senate voted to concur with a House gay marriage bill that was passed last week.
The governor’s office had his veto message prepared when the bill was delivered by a Senate staff member.
In his message, Douglas says even if the bill were to become law, federal benefits would still be denied to same-sex couples in Vermont.
The House and Senate are expected to try to override the governor’s veto on Tuesday. The Senate will convene at 9 a.m. Tuesday to vote again to override governor’s veto.
The Senate is expected to override the veto, while it’s unclear what the House will do.
No big surprise here. And it looks like the House, with its 94-52 final vote on the bill, will need to pull together six more votes to override the veto.
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