He believes the House wants to prevent cities and counties from setting up registries to recognize same-sex or unmarried heterosexual couples, but Speaker Melvin Neufeld isn’t sure when the chamber will vote on a ban.

Neufeld, R-Ingalls, said Friday that he’s made no decision about when a debate on a registry bill will be scheduled. The Federal and State Affairs Committee endorsed the measure late Thursday.

The bill is a response to discussions in Lawrence about starting a domestic partnership registry there.

Rep. Lance Kinzer, R-Olathe, the bill’s sponsor, has said allowing such registries would violate – and undermine – an amendment voters added to the Kansas Constitution in 2005 prohibiting the state from recognizing gay marriages or similar arrangements.

But critics contend such registries could help one unmarried partner obtain health insurance benefits from another unmarried partner’s employer.

And Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, said domestic partner registries haven’t created problems in communities outside Kansas.

“I think these kinds of registries are just a reflection of what society is today, and I don’t see what the state interest is in prohibiting them,” he said.