The Keystone State’s first bill to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples was introduced this week in the House.
Pennsylvania Rep. Mark Cohen (D-202nd Dist.) submitted the bill, HB 2447, Wednesday along with 31 cosponsors.
Leon Czikowsky, a researcher with Cohen’s office, noted the civil-union measure has already made more gains than Cohen’s other controversial bill, which seeks to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes and which has nine cosponsors, most of whom are concentrated in the Philadelphia area.
“Some people thought he wasn’t going to get too many cosponsors, but he was able to get quite a few,” Czikowsky said. “It’s a very good showing, and it’s a cross-section of the entire state. There’s people from Philadelphia and then there’s also people who are considered conservative Democrats from other parts of the state.”
Czikowsky said the bill is expected to be sent to the Judiciary Committee, which is headed by Thomas Caltagirone (127th Dist.), a cosponsor.
He was unsure of a timeline for when the bill could be considered, however, as he said Cohen wants to continue to build support for the measure before any action is taken on it.
“You don’t want to bring up bills before you know you have the votes,” he said. “A lot of times people don’t understand why it takes a while, but they need to realize that you have to make sure it can actually pass when you bring it up; you don’t want it killed. But it’s in good hands with Caltagirone.”
The cosponsors — all Democrats — include Reps. Tim Briggs (149th Dist.), Vanessa Brown (190th Dist.), Ron Buxton (103rd Dist.), Caltagirone, Lawrence Curry (154th Dist.), Eugene DePasquale (95th Dist.), Dwight Evans (203rd Dist.), Florindo Fabrizio (2nd Dist.), Dan Frankel (23rd Dist.), Michael Gerber (148th Dist.), Kenyatta Johnson (186th Dist.), Babette Josephs (182nd Dist.), Bryan Lentz (161st Dist.), Kathy Manderino (194th Dist.), Michael McGeehan (173rd Dist.), Barbara McIlvaine Smith (156th Dist.), John Myers (201st Dist.), Michael O’Brien (175th Dist.), Cherelle Parker (200th Dist.), Eddie Day Pashinski (121st Dist.), Tony Payton (179th Dist.), Joseph Preston (24th Dist.), James Roebuck (188th Dist.), Steven Santarsiero (31st Dist.), Michael Sturla (96th Dist.), Rick Taylor (151st Dist.), Greg Vitali (166th Dist.), Chelsa Wagner (22nd Dist.), Jake Wheatley (19th Dist.), Jewell Williams (197th Dist.) and Rosita Youngblood (198th Dist.).
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].