Gay Marriage Bill To Get Minnesota House Hearing

ST. PAUL (AP) - The bill to make same-sex marriage legal in Minnesota is getting a last-minute committee hearing in the Minnesota House.

The House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to review the legislation Monday. That's after a state analysis showed a small impact on Minnesota's general fund.

The analysis by Minnesota's budget office predicts that if gay marriage becomes legal, 114 state employees would enroll in state benefits for their married partners. That would cost the state about $688,000 a year. But it would be partly offset by about $190,000 from same-sex couples buying marriage licenses.

Lawmakers have not formally acted on the gay marriage bill since it passed a pair of committees in March. But a vote in the full House or Senate could happen as early as this week.