The measure cleared the house by an almost 2 to 1 margin two weeks ago, and had been expected to be taken up by the senate yesterday.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers has more.
Senate President Sylvia Larsen says too much attention has been paid to the scheduling of the civil unions vote.
"It's definitely on the calendar for next week and wass an issue we choose to take a deep breath on and allow people time to contact us on it, allow senators time to think about it, and it will be on the calendar next Thursday."
Larsen's fellow Senators learned about the rescheduling late last week and the news took nearly all of them by surprise.……Senators on both sides of the issue said they say little reason for the delay because their minds were pretty much made up. And some Republicans, are convinced are that the Governor -- who's said next to nothing about what might be the years most high-profile bill -- had a hand in the delay. Last week, Lynch's spokesman would not answer directly when asked if the Governor was behind the rescheduling……Lynch himself, divulged little yesterday when asked if he'd spoken to Senator Larsen about the civil union bill' timetable.
"I did not participate in any decision in terms of when that vote would be scheduled."
-Did you participate in a discussion of when that vote would be scheduled?
"Well, as I said we talk about bills all the time."
Senator Larsen confirms that she and the governor did talk about the civil unions vote, but says he neither sought the delay, nor disclosed whether he's formed any final opinion on the bill.
"He gives very quite consideration to things and we don't always hear his thoughts on it, but his feedback has never been, 'don't sent that bill to me,' that is not any feedback he has ever given, but he is listening."
Larsen says she fully expects civil unions to pass and believes that the Governor's only publicly stated concern with the bill -- that it might not fully dovetail with existing statutes -- has been vetted by the Senators and their legal counsel.
"We did the research and looked at those statutes and found that it's not an issue."
It's unclear if the Governor's position on the bill will be known until or if the Senate passes it. In the meantime, Senate staff and security says they are preparing for a heavy public turnout for next Thursday's vote.
