A state Senate committee passed a bill Friday setting a statewide vote next year on banning gay marriage in the Minnesota Constitution, a goal that eluded conservative activists for years but got sudden new life this week with Republicans now in control of the Legislature. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill 8-4, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed. Passage by the full Senate and the House appears likely with solid Republican majorities in both chambers, meaning voters in 2012 would be asked to enshrine in Minnesota's Constitution a prohibition on same-sex marriage that already exists in state law.