Most Democrats in the House of Delegates rejected an attempt Monday by Republicans to bring about a floor vote on a resolution to have a Marriage Amendment to the state constitution.

The resolution, which would create a statewide vote on marriage, has been bottled up in the House Constitutional Revision Committee this session with apparently no plans by the committee chair to put the bill on the committee's agenda.

House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, attempted to discharge the committee during Monday's floor session. "Recent polls have shown that 86 percent of West Virginians believe we need to take action on this," Armstead argued. "If we cannot get that through the committee process then it's time for us to act as a body."

But House Majority Leader Brent Boggs, D-Braxton, successfully moved to have Armstead's motion postponed indefinitely.

The Democratic-controlled House was then also able to use a procedural move to cut off debate.

Boggs says he's in favor of the Marriage Amendment resolution, but he's not in favor of bypassing the committee process. "Regardless of which side one finds themselves on a particular issue it's not good public policy to bypass the committee process during a legislative session," Boggs said as he read from a prepared speech.

A bill passed the legislature in 2001 defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but Armstead says recent court decisions in other states prove that's not enough. He says an amendment is needed to the state constitution. "Just five years ago we were one vote in our Court from having that issue before the Supreme Court. This is an urgent issue. It's an issue that needs to be addressed," Armstead said.

Thirty states have marriage amendments as part of their state constitutions.

Boggs says he and Armstead are on the same side with it comes to the amendment, but the move to discharge the committee was the wrong way to go. "Despite my disappointment and respectful disagreement with others, a vote to circumvent the process of legislative committee work would eventually cause untold problems," he said.