The way District 39B Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL) sees it, a Republican resolution that would effectively ban gay marriage is a poorly-timed "distraction" from the state's budget deficit.

"Regardless of how you feel about [gay marriage rights], now is the not the time to be working on them," said Atkins. "We have a $5 billion deficit that's staring us in the face, let's focus on that." Under the Republican proposal, Minnesota voters would decide whether to approve a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage during the 2012 election. The question placed on the ballot would read: "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?"

The proposed amendment was introduced last week by a bevy of Republican legislators, including District 42 Sen. David Haan, District 32 Sen. Warren Limmer, District 12 Sen. Paul Gazelka and District 15A Rep. Steve Gottwalt. On Friday, the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee passed the bill with an 8-4 vote and on Monday afternoon, the Minnesota House of Representative's Civil Law Committee heard the bill. While Atkins believes debate on the subject should wait until another day, the lawmakers supporting the bill hope to pass the measure this year, then send it to the public to foster statewide discussion before the 2012 election.

"It is not a distraction from the budget...we are working diligently on the state budget," Gottwalt said at a press conference held last week. "We think it's time to take it to the people. Minnesotans have indicated that they want that opportunity, and we want to give that to them." Atkins believes the issue — only a week old — is already sidetracking legislators. Since the proposal was introduced, Atkins said he's received at least 50-60 emails from constituents on the subject.

District 39 Sen. Jim Metzen (DFL) was unavailable for comment on the issue.

"Even people who support the law have said that they prefer we focus on the budget," said Atkins, citing the emails.

Sen. Jim Metzen