A bill that would remove county clerks' names from the marriage licenses in Kentucky was passed by the Senate and Local Government Committee, and will now be presented in the Republican-majority Senate floor for a vote.
Senate Bill 5 will implement the executive order issued by Governor Matt Bevin about two months earlier, and will not have county clerks names on the marriage licenses.
The measure comes after Rowan county clerk Kim Davis refused to sign marriage licenses of same-sex couples, and was jailed for non-compliance with court orders about six months ago.
Under the new bill, the license forms will not have county clerk's name but will have an office's employee's name who will record the license.
The bill will also includes a two-form system, where one of the forms has options for "bride" and "groom," while the other will have options for "first party" and "second party."
Also, in a major victory for Davis' position on her role as a county clerk in issuing marriage licenses, US District Judge David Bunning ruled that she did not interfere with the functioning of the office of the county clerk just because she had removed her name from the marriage licenses after her release from prison.
The LGBT activists had expressed concerns that the marriage licenses issued without county clerk's name during the seven days after her release would be considered invalid, as she did not take permission of higher state authorities to do so.
"There has been no indication that Davis has continued to interfere with the issuance of marriage licenses since September 20, 2015," wrote Bunning in a three-page order. "Moreover, there is every reason to believe that any altered licenses issued between September 14, 2015 and September 20, 2015 would be recognized as valid under Kentucky law, making re-issuance unnecessary."
Senator Morgan McGarvey, demanded an amendment of the bill creating a two-form system, saying that it is up to people to identify themselves as "bride" or "groom."
"You would just have one form ... it would probably be cheaper, it would be more efficient and wouldn't treat people differently and I just don't see the downside of that," McGarvey told the Courier Journal.
Senator Steve West, who sponsored Senate Bill 5, clarified that the two-form provision was made in consultation with county clerks who said many constituents asked for it.
"I would obviously review it, look at all the particulars," West told the Courier Journal. "We looked at that option, we considered that option ... I would consider his amendment but I'm not going to say we would look on it favorably ... We've been working on this since I filed Senate Bill 5 and so there has been a lot of back and forth between the clerks and the governor's office."
