On October 25, 2011, the House Judiciary Committee voted 11-6 for a bill repealing same-sex marriage and establishing civil unions far more limited than the state's earlier civil unions. The new civil unions would not be covered by the state's anti-discrimination law and no one would be required to recognize them as the equivalent of opposite-sex marriages. The bill's effect on same-sex marriages already performed in the state was disputed. In January 2012, Representative David Bates, the principal sponsor of the legislation, said the bill would be the first legislative repeal of same-sex marriage in the U.S., but Governor John Lynch announced he would veto any repeal of the state's same-sex marriage statute. New Hampshire Republicans were generally identified with the repeal effort and they controlled the 400-member House by a 3-1 margin. The "Nashua Telegraph" termed the failure of the repeal effort in March 2012 "a shocking setback". The House defeated a series of attempts to modify the bill to attract moderate support by providing same-sex couples with an alternative to marriage. Bates' own amendment to delay the bill's effective date until March 31 so a non-binding referendum on the issue of same-sex marriage could be held in November failed on a vote of 188-162, with 96 of the chamber's 293 Republicans voting against the referendum. Opposing the referendum, Representative Shawn Jasper, House Deputy Majority Leader, said: "We are the most representative body in the country, if not the world. If we feel the need to go to our constituents and ask them a question, we are clearly in trouble." On March 21, 2012, the House defeated the bill on a vote of 211 to 116.