MONTPELIER – The Democratic leaders of the Vermont Legislature said Thursday that they are committed to passing a gay marriage bill this year.

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, and House Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morristown, announced at a Statehouse press conference that the same-sex marriage bill is one of their priorities when lawmakers return from a two-week vacation later this month.

"I'm proud of the step we took in 2000, but as the years have passed, my pride has given way to uneasiness," Shumlin said. "Though we provided some important legal protections, the fact is, we also stopped short of equal rights for our neighbors in Vermont."

Hearings on same-sex marriage will begin in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, March 16, Shumlin announced, with the goal of passing the bill out of that committee by the end of that week.

Shumlin said the committee plans on hearing from Vermonters on both sides of the issue, along with legal scholars, business leaders and clergy. A public hearing before the joint House and Senate judiciary committees will be held in the House chambers on March 18 from 6 to 8:30 p.m., he added.

A bill legalizing same-sex marriage was introduced in the Vermont House last month and quickly found 60 co-sponsors – so Thursday's announcement was not a huge surprise, although some lawmakers openly wondered if there would be the time to devote to such a bill as the state grapples with an economic crisis.

Shumlin said a new version of the same-sex marriage bill will be introduced on March 16, with one of the only major differences being that the new version will also strip away an old state law that allowed Vermonters as young as 14 years old to get married with an OK from a judge.

Beth Robinson, an attorney with the Vermont Freedom to Marry Taskforce, said she believes the atmosphere at the Statehouse for the hearings will be vastly different than the civil union hearings there nine years ago.

"Attitudes have changed," said Robinson, who argued the court case leading to civil unions in Vermont. "People recognize that this is the time to move forward."

The organization plans an advertising effort, as well.

But same sex marriage still has its opponents. Craig Bensen is one of the founders of Take It to the People, a group which opposes same-sex marriage and supports putting the question before Vermont voters on a statewide ballot.

He said Thursday that opponents will turn out to the hearings later this month, but he worried that lawmakers are rushing through the process. He said opponents will testify that children are better raised in households with one mother and one father.

"We want to have an informed debate, but the Legislature doesn't seem too interested in that," Bensen said.

The announcement also puts the Democratically-controlled Legislature at odds with Republican Gov. James Douglas.

Douglas, who was elected just two years after Vermont's first-in-the-nation civil union law, believes that that legislation provides same-sex Vermonters with equal legal rights. Other Vermonters say the civil union law was a good first step toward equality, but lacks the full recognition of marriage.

Dennise Casey, the spokeswoman for Douglas, said the governor wants lawmakers to focus on the economic crisis.

"Vermonters need all elected officials to have their full attention on the current economic crisis so that we can be in the strongest position to recover," Casey said.

Shumlin brushed aside that criticism Thursday, saying the Legislature can do more than one thing at a time.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity to pass a bill that will make real positive differences in the lives of many Vermonters without diverting a single dollar from another priority," he said.

Robinson, whose group met briefly with Douglas in a closed-door meeting at the Statehouse several weeks ago, doesn't think the governor will veto the bill if it comes across his desk this year.

"I don't think Gov. Douglas wants to place himself squarely on the wrong side of history," she said.

Other legislative priorities outlined by Shumlin and Smith on Thursday included a job creations bill, a $125 million transportation bonding proposal, a green energy bill, campaign finance reform, same-day voter registration and a bill forcing the owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to fully fund its decommissioning bill.

daniel.barlow@timesargus.com