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But the bill also includes a radical, unintentional, change—outlawing one form of heterosexual marriage. According to H.B. 1198, a marriage must be "licensed, solemnized, and registered." That language abolishes common-law marriage. So in order to sign a bill intended to uphold old-fashioned marriage, the Governor will also have to destroy a perfectly legitimate form of old-fashioned marriage, whose benefits Colorado residents have enjoyed since Territorial days. http://www.davekopel.com/Misc/OpEds/Op051597.htm that case it was a goof and the legislators didn't read the whole bill, but the result is the same.

There's also a bill in Georgia which would do the same http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=348&dat=19960315&id=W3Qw
AAAAIBAJ&sjid=_TYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4281,4893807]

And Texas REALLY screwed up in attempting to ban any kind of same-sex union back in 2009:

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The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by voters, declares that "marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares:

"This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage."

Architects of the amendment included the clause to ban same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. But Radnofsky, who was a member of the powerhouse Vinson & Elkins law firm in Houston for 27 years until retiring in 2006, says the wording of Subsection B effectively "eliminates marriage in Texas," including common-law marriages.

She calls it a "massive mistake" and blames the current attorney general, Republican Greg Abbott, for allowing the language to become part of the Texas Constitution. Radnofsky called on Abbott to acknowledge the wording as an error and consider an apology. She also said that another constitutional amendment may be necessary to reverse the problem.

The constitutional amendment bans all Texas marriages. Please note that neither the Attorney General or the Liberty Legal Institute dispute Barbara Ann's legal analysis. Instead the Attorney General's office says that the AG will defend the constitutionality of a constitutional amendment which appears to ban all Texas marriages.

Abbott spokesman Jerry Strickland said the attorney general stands behind the 4-year-old amendment: "The Texas Constitution and the marriage statute are entirely constitutional," Strickland said without commenting further on Radnofsky’s statements. "We will continue to defend both in court." http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/11/18/805591/-Texas-marriages-in-le
gal-limbo-w-poll- I guess in Texas you're not married uless the AG defends it!

Then again, it IS Texas... (sorry Mike)