No Special Session

The failure to catch the incorrect language in the now famous marriage amendment has obviously put a bit of egg on all of our legislative faces. There will be no excuses here because one of us should have caught the error and we didn't. I will say though that I don't know a single legislator or anyone in the executive branch who wants our state scrutinized for its' legislature's mistakes. It is important not to compound the problem now, and I believe the governor made the right decision in refusing to call a special session to solve the problem. I remember very well Rep. Bond's presentation of the bill and the debate on the floor. It was clear that the intent of this legislation was to make 18 the age to marry. Then we have that infamous "not" inserted into the bill that none of us caught, and all of a sudden, anybody at any age with parental consent, could get hitched up. I agree completely with Governor Beebe, that no crisis exists here, and the county clerks will be able to handle this in good order until we can provide the legislative fix in 2009.