PROVIDENCE -- A number of couples preparing to say "I do" this
summer are facing an unexpected glitch in their wedding plans: a
legislative squabble at the General Assembly.
The couples are those seeking special permission from lawmakers to have
a friend, family member, or out-of-state official conduct their
ceremony. Such matters have usually been considered routine.
But this year, key senators balked at giving just anyone permission to
preside over a duo's entry into wedded bliss. House members objected to
the new Senate restriction, and the ensuing clash has ensnared every
pending request.
A number of wedding dates have come and gone, requiring those couples to
make alternate plans. Others have special days that are approaching
quickly. Lawmakers who sponsored the bills as hometown favors are
frustrated.
"If either chamber wanted to establish [new] criteria, then it should be
done next year, not halfway through a session," said Rep. Bruce Long,
R-Middletown, who is trying to help a couple get married by the groom's
uncle, a Michigan judge. The wedding is June 21.
"People have made plans," he complained. "Now members are having to go
back to their constituents and say, 'I'm sorry, there are issues
certainly beyond my control that very well may prevent it.' "
State law allows a host of people to legally conduct a wedding,
including clergy members, current and retired court clerks and
administrators, and a variety of state judges, including magistrates and
municipal court judges. Everyone else needs special legislation -- even
Rep. Maxine Shavers, D-Newport, who wants to perform the wedding
ceremony of her son in Newport next month.
But in March, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Michael McCaffrey
announced that the Senate would approve marriage bills only if the
person involved has the authority to conduct a wedding back home.
McCaffrey said committee members wanted to ensure that people have some
qualifications to do the job.
House lawmakers, who have tried in vain in recent weeks to push any
pending requests through in omnibus bills, question why senators feel
the need to wade into such details.
"In Vegas they let Elvis marry people," said House Minority Leader
Robert Watson, R-East Greenwich. "If two individuals want a particular
person to marry them, for whatever reasons they personally deem
appropriate, I just don't see why we should be involved in superseding
those decisions."
Rep. Raymond Gallison, D-Bristol, is trying to help an Attleboro lawyer
get permission to perform a June 21 wedding for friends at Colt State
Park. Gallison, whose bill is up for a House vote today, said he can
understand the suggestion that such officiants should have some
qualifications. But he notes that people could become a minister over
the Internet, "and Rhode Island will accept that."
McCaffrey, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, said the ultimate
solution is for lawmakers to hand off the responsibility for weddings
altogether. He is proposing to give the governor the power to allow
anyone with a clean criminal record to perform a ceremony, in trade for
a $150 fee to the secretary of state.
The measure, awaiting a Senate vote, also clears the way for any federal
judge to perform ceremonies here.
Sen. Teresa Paiva-Weed, D-Newport, tried to help a couple with a planned
wedding in May, only to have the bill become snagged in the dispute.
Paiva-Weed said she supports the Senate's suggestion for changing the
process, but has concerns about ceremonies that have been "falling into
the cracks" in the meantime.
Rep. Paul Crowley, D-Newport, also had a pending bill that died when the
wedding date went by. Crowley said such bills are "just a service you
do," often for people from out of state, and should be considered a way
to help promote the tourism and wedding industry.
As the dispute drags on, lawmakers with pending requests say they are
telling people to have backup plans in place, but to hang on in case the
situation can be resolved.
A spokesman for House Speaker William J. Murphy, D-West Warwick, said
yesterday that the speaker is hopeful it will be worked out soon.
