At the urging of House Speaker Brian Bosma, a proposed amendment that would have overturned gay rights ordinances in Indianapolis and other cities has been withdrawn.
Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Lizton, had sought Tuesday to insert the amendment into House Bill 1010, which restricts governments' ability to seize private property through eminent domain.
Bosma had abruptly shut the House down Tuesday as debate over the controversial amendment was going on in the House. When the House resumed action just before 2 p.m. today, Thompson withdrew his amendment.
"I had a number of discussions with Representative Thompson over the last 20 hours and did ask him to withdraw the amendment," Bosma said. "While I understand his commitment to this issue and the policy behind it, I believe this is an issue that needs to have more thorough vetting, discussed in a committee, the opportunity for the public to comment on it."
And, he said, "it was very clear that approaching it in this fashion would be a severe distraction from the important business at hand."
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060125/NEWS02/601250476