Rulings test Finneran's authority

As he faces perhaps the biggest leadership challenge of his eight years as House speaker, Thomas M. Finneran said he sees "a gathering consensus" in the Legislature to send voters a ballot initiative that would ban gay marriage and create civil unions.

Finneran said last week's Globe poll indicating that 71 percent of Massachusetts residents want the voters to define marriage could increase lawmakers' support for a constitutional amendment he is backing. The House and Senate are scheduled to convene in a constitutional convention March 11, with an eye toward putting an amendment on the statewide ballot in 2006.

"I think the public voice on this has been consistent and growing, and I think people are beginning to see the implications of inaction or being denied the opportuntity to vote on it," Finneran, a Mattapan Democrat, said Friday in an interview with the Globe. "You cannot silence the voice of the people on an issue of such social, legal, and cultural importance."

Finneran and Senate President Robert E. Travaglini have offered a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage and create civil unions that would provide "entirely the same benefits, protections, rights and responsibilities that are afforded to couples married under Massachusetts law."

The Globe poll found that 60 percent of Massachusetts residents support civil unions, and 53 percent oppose gay marriage. Finneran said he feels it would be "an appropriate response" for the Legislature to send voters an amendment that would both create civil unions and ban gay marriage.

However, many advocates and policy makers who favor gay marriage say civil unions fail to offer the full range of benefits received by married men and women. Many who oppose gay marriage, including Governor Mitt Romney, frown on civil unions if they will provide the same level of rights and benefits as marriage.

The House and Senate would have to approve an amendment this year and again in the 2005-2006 legislative session before it could be considered by voters in November 2006. Meantime, the Supreme Judicial Court's ruling legalizing gay marriage gives same-sex couples the right to marry in Massachusetts starting May 17.

Until recently, Finneran opposed civil unions for gay couples, and during his speakership has consistently fought against extending domestic partnership benefits to gay couples. But by throwing his support behind the measure he coauthored with Travaglini, he is trying to navigate an issue that has divided the state and the Legislature since the SJC's ruling in November.

A 53-year-old lawyer, Finneran is a socially conservative Democrat who was elected speaker in 1996 with the votes of both Republicans and Democrats. He frequently dismisses talk about his vast power in the Legislature, even as his colleagues parse his lawyerly statements and whisper about his shifting positions in the gay marriage debate and his role in a recent federal court ruling.

A panel of three federal judges last week rejected a map Finneran's team had drawn two years ago for House districts in Boston, and it ordered the Legislature to redraw the voting lines. Finneran had previously testified that he had nothing to do with the process of redrawing district lines.

But the three-judge panel said that "circumstantial evidence strongly suggests the opposite conclusion" -- fueling criticism that Finneran mishandled another high-profile issue dear to lawmakers.

"He has put their reputation and his reputation in jeopardy," said Judy Meredith, executive director of the nonprofit Public Policy Institute and a longtime Beacon Hill lobbyist and observer. "It creates opportunities for a transfer of power [to rank-and-file members]. He needs them now more than they need him, for the first time in a long time."

Finneran's allies maintain that the good will he's built with House members over the years easily outweighs the fallout from any credibility questions. They maintain that he can be an effective broker on the gay marriage issue, and that he continues to enjoy the support of the vast majority of House members.

"Any sort of skeptical observations have been outnumbered by those instances when he has followed through on commitments," said state Representative Eugene L. O'Flaherty, a Chelsea Democrat and House chairman of the Judiciary Committee. "He has been through a lot of situations in the past that have prepared him well for the issues we're facing. He thrives under pressure, and usually ends up being at his best when he faces multiple challenges."

Finneran derives much of his popularity from his ability to handle contentious issues while keeping the heat off of his colleagues. For several years, he scuttled a public campaign-finance measure that might have cost House members their jobs. In 2002, he quarterbacked the biggest tax increase in the state's history -- in an election year, and over the veto of a Republican governor. In the late 1990s, he stared down the owner of the New England Patriots, refusing to have the state fund a new stadium even as the team threatened to ditch Massachusetts for Connecticut.

But some House members contend that Finneran has burned up much of his good will with colleagues in recent weeks. Anger erupted over his move on the first day of the constitutional convention Feb. 11, when he came within two votes of ending the historic session soon after it started.

Travaglini recognized Finneran to give opening remarks, but the speaker shocked most in the chamber by offering an amendment instead. That measure, which would have banned gay marriage and offer no guarantees on civil unions, failed 100-98.

State Representative Cory Atkins, who served as one of the speaker's committee vice chairmen last term, said Finneran's move betrayed disrespect for his fellow lawmakers, as well as the judicial branch of government. Finneran sharply criticized the SJC decision on the House floor.

"It's hard to trust a person who started right out of the gate by doing something totally distrustful," said Atkins, a Concord Democrat. "His disdain for the courts upsets me the most. He's totally contemptuous of anything he doesn't agree with."

Since offering that amendment, Finneran has modified his position on gay marriage, but other lawmakers say they have not been able to figure out precisely where he stands. After his measure failed, he cowrote the amendment with Travaglini that would ban gay marriage and create civil unions.

But as the constitutional convention wound to a close, speculation swirled that Finneran's support was less than genuine, and Travaglini allowed a filibuster that ran out the clock. Last week, Finneran said repeatedly that he stands by that amendment, but then appeared to muddle the issue by saying it was important for the Legislature be given "flexibility and latitude to modify" what civil unions mean. As currently written, the amendment supported by Finneran does not allow that flexibility.

State Representative Philip Travis, who has been heading efforts in the Legislature opposed to same-sex marriage, said the lack of clarity coming from the speaker is hurting his ability to lead on this issue. "This is an issue that cries out for straightforward leadership," said Travis, a Rehoboth Democrat.

Patrick Guerriero, a former House member who supported Finneran for speaker, noted that Finneran has ruled with an iron fist, but at other times has been a fantastic listener. "The question is, which speaker is going to show up?" said Guerriero, now executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay Republican group. "His legacy and I think his public perception will largely be based on how he handles himself in these coming weeks."

Finneran downplayed talk of the gay marriage issue as a referendum on his power. He said early childhood education, housing, and other issues coming before the House are far more important to him.

"This is an issue that doesn't lend itself to any kind of assessment of anybody's influence or prestige," Finneran said. "My influence, when I'm focused on those things and channeled, is fairly considerable. But for the most part, the members have their own goals and objectives and agendas and, thank God, the two usually don't clash."

Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com.