CONCORD, New Hampshire (CWNews.com) - A Democratic New Hampshire state senator said last Friday he is considering proposing a same-sex civil union bill -- similar to the one just signed into law in neighboring Vermont -- next year, according to Conservative News Service.

    Senator Burt Cohen said he will decide whether to file the bill "depending on who wins" in the state's general election this fall. "I hear wind of it," Cohen said. "Some people are encouraged by what happened in Vermont." Democrats control the state senate and the governor's office, but Republicans still hold a majority in the House of Representatives.

    Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen has apparently backed off from her earlier statement that she disagreed with the Vermont law which grants same-sex couples the same legal benefits as married couples. Last Thursday, her press secretary said the governor had not yet read the Vermont law and had no opinion on it. In addition, she said the governor opposed homosexual marriage, but did not know whether the governor considered civil unions the same as marriage.