State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, on Wednesday announced the Constitutional Marriage Protection Amendment passed its first hurdle, with the approval by the House State Government Committee.House Bill 2381, introduced in late January, would allow Pennsylvania voters to amend the state Constitution to protect the institution of marriage as a union between one man and woman."Passage of this legislation will ultimately allow the voters of Pennsylvania to decide how they want to define marriage in Pennsylvania,"Metcalfe said. "This is a truly democratic process."Voters in 19 states have ratified such an amendment to their state constitutions.Already garnering the bipartisan support of 87 co-sponsors, the amendment must first be approved by the General Assembly in two consecutive legislative session.Once ratified, voters would vote in a referendum to amend the state Constitution with this language:"Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this commonwealth, and neither the commonwealth nor any of its political subdivisions shall create or recognize a legal status identical or substantially equivalent to that of marriage for unmarried individuals."———

Rep. Scott Hutchinson, R-64th, Thursday praised the House of Representatives for passing legislation he said would strengthen the state's business climate by requiring the defendants in lawsuits to pay only their fair share of jury awards and reduce frivolous lawsuits."Lawsuit abuse is a serious factor contributing to Pennsylvania's rising health care costs as well as our State's inability to create good jobs," said Hutchinson. "This bill gets to the root of the problem by making sure that defendants pay based on their percentage of fault and not on their ability to pay."Under Senate Bill 435, known as the Fair Share Act, defendants who are less than 60 percent at fault in a civil liability lawsuit are required to only pay the share of the jury award proportional to their responsibility.Current law states that a defendant who may be liable for only 5 percent of damages could be required to pay 100 percent of damages awarded if their co-defendants are unable to pay.The Fair Share Act is part of the Keystone Manufacturing Initiative, a legislative package designed to make Pennsylvania friendly and more competitive for employers to retain and create family-sustaining jobs.

———The United States Chamber of Commerce this week presented U.S.

Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and U.S.

Rep. Melissa Hart, R-4th, with its Spirit of Enterpriseaward for their support of legislation important to the chamber.The chamber awards the Spirit of Enterprise based on rankings it gives senators and congressional members for key business votes.Santorum scored a 100 percent rating with the chamber last year and Hart scored 93 percent.