TOPEKA, Kan.—Efforts to ban domestic partner registries by local governments, including one in Lawrence, ran into trouble Feb. 20 in the Kansas House when members sent it to committee rather than advancing it to an expected final vote.

The 66-50 vote to send the bill to the House Judiciary Committee came after some legislators complained it was an instance of state government imposing its will on local governments. Lawrence enacted its registry last year, nearly two years after voters amended the state constitution to ban same-sex marriages.

Sponsoring Rep. Lance Kinzer said the move doesn’t doom his bill, although it will delay passage.

Judiciary Committee chairman Mike O’Neal, a Hutchinson Republican, told colleagues before they sent the bill to his committee: “I’m not excited about getting this bill. This isn’t about the rule of law. This is a philosophical debate.”

The committee also has 121 bills lined up for action before the session ends in early May.

After the House acted, O’Neal said, “I haven’t decided whether to have a hearing. We are a little bit busy.”

House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, an Ingalls Republican, said the message was clear: “People don’t want to vote for it.”

The bill says no city or county can create a domestic partner registry or recognize any domestic partner relationship not recognized by state law.

Rep. Tim Owens said it was about local control.

“This is about freedom,” said the Overland Park Republican, adding it was “an infusion of state interference.”

Rep. Paul Davis, a Lawrence Democrat, said 31 same-sex and opposite-sex couples have registered in his hometown, and the registry doesn’t create any legal rights. He said companies use the registry to determine whether to offer health benefits to employees in domestic partnerships.