A pair of Butler County Republican lawmakers praised this week's vote in the state House of Representatives that approved the Constitutional Marriage Protection Amendment.

Introduced in late January, the measure, approved 136-61, would allow Pennsylvania voters to amend the state constitution to protect the institution of marriage as a union between one man and woman.

The Marriage Protection Amendment will now be sent to the state Senate for concurrence.

"Good politics naturally flows out of good public policy," said Rep.

Daryl Metcalfe, D-12th. "At the most fundamental level, this constitutional amendment will keep the authority to decide what constitutes a traditional marriage out of the courtroom and in the hands of the people of Pennsylvania where it rightfully belongs."The Pennsylvania Constitutional Marriage Protection Amendment must be approved by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in two consecutive legislative sessions. Once ratified, Pennsylvanians would then have the opportunity through voter referendum to amend the state constitution."It is important that residents have a chance to voice their opinion about such a controversial issue," said

Brian Ellis, R-11th. This amendment would ensure that no judge or court in Pennsylvania could choose to legally recognize a marriage by anyone other than one man or one woman."———U.S. Reps.

Phil English, R-3rd, and

Melissa Hart, R-4th, applauded Wednesday's passage of Refinery Permit Process Schedule Act by the House of Representatives.The measure is the second in a series of energy initiatives aimed to increase America's energy independence. The House last month passed The Federal Energy Price Protection Act to crack down on gasoline price gouging.The Refinery Permit Process Schedule Act would encourage new refining capacity to help increase gasoline supplies and drive down high prices.Specifically, the measure would establish a federal coordinator to bring together all federal and state agencies responsible for issuing permits to develop a facility and help them coordinate and expedite their schedules so that decisions on permits can move efficiently."As refined product imports continue to rise, we must streamline the process to reform the regulatory environment to help expand refinery production right here at home," English said. "With this bill, we will promote domestic oil and gas production by simplifying the permit process for American refineries."Hart said the bill would ease dependence on foreign oil while not infringing on environmental protections."This legislation will facilitate the construction of new refineries and boost domestic refining capacity by eliminating needless red tape and delay,"she said. "It is especially important that this legislation accomplishes that without degrading any environmental protections that are currently in place."———State Rep.

Brian Ellis, R-11th, recently announced his support for a bill that would eliminate the need for the state's casinos and slots parlors to purchase slot machines from middleman organizations and allow slots operators to purchase the machines directly from the manufacturer."I believe that there are several aspects of the gaming law that need to be addressed, beginning with the need to streamline slots purchasing," Ellis said."Several of my colleagues and I agree that the original provision requiring gaming organizations to use these middleman suppliers does not serve any purpose to residents and is only a political strategy to help out some VIPs in the slots purchasing industry," he said.According to Ellis, the legislation, which was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep.

Mike Turzai, R-28th, and in the state Senate by Sen.

Jane Orie, R-40th, is just one of several necessary steps that needs taken to improve the 2004 gaming law.The House narrowly approved an amendment similar to this bill to eliminate the middleman suppliers earlier this year. However, following that vote, it decided to reverse its decision, voting on the amendment again, thereby defeating the legislation."Because the vote to pass the amendment and the vote to defeat it were both so narrow, I am confident that this legislation will provide the Legislature with an opportunity to look further into this issue and identify the need to eliminate the mandatory involvement with middlemen altogether," Ellis said.The legislation is currently under consideration by the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee.