Deluca To Speak At RTC Meeting

State Senator Louis Deluca of Woodbury will speak at the Newtown Republican Town Committee meeting Monday, January 10, at 7:30 pm in the Multi-Purpose Center on Riverside Road. Elected to the State Senate in 1990, he serves as leader of the Senate Republican caucus.

Sen Deluca will speak on the same-sex union bill the Connecticut legislature is likely to vote on during the 2005 session of the General Assembly. While some legislators say the bill would likely pass, others believe Connecticut voters, if given the chance, would reject it.

During the 2004 election, 11 states voted Marriage Protection Amendments into their state constitutions. Earlier in the year two additional states did the same. Efforts to place a similar amendment on the ballot in Connecticut failed, despite 80,000 signatures collected by the Family Institute of Connecticut and Knights of Columbus defending traditional marriage.

Sen Deluca said that Connecticut voters should decide the issue. “Something as drastic as [civil unions] should be voted on by the people,” Sen Deluca said. “It should be up to discussion whether in the form of a constitutional amendment or a referendum.”

“During the election, several people asked me whether Connecticut could amend its state constitution to protect traditional marriage,” said Carol Recht, NRTC chairman. “I don’t see this as a partisan issue because our understanding of marriage affects all of us, whether Republican, Democrat or Independent.

“We invite all interested parties to attend Monday’s meeting,” she said.