Date: Mon, 03 Feb 1997 18:50:43 -1000 From: lambda@aloha.net (Martin Rice) Subject: HAWAI`I SENATE HEARING: Personal perspective Aloha auwinala kakou. Just returned from the Hawai`i Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings that where held in Honolulu today. The outcome is a win-loss or loss-win situation, depending. A total of 8 marriage-related bills were considered, and written testimony was presented by 151 people who thereby were qualified to present their oral testimony also. I'll try to sort out this pile. House Bill 117 House Draft 1 (HB 117 HD 1), Senate Bill 36 (SB 36), Senate Bill 97 (SB 97), Senate Bill 912 (SB 912) and part of Senate Bill 1800 (SB 1800) deal with some aspect of defining marriage in terms of one man and one woman, and pertaining to placing the specific question of such a definition on the ballot in an election. House Bill 118 (HB 118), Senate Bill 98 (SB 98), Senate Bill 795 (SB 795) and part of Senate Bill 1800 (SB 1800) deal with the extension of benefits of marriage being bestowed in graduated increments from HB 118, the least to SB 98, some more, to SB 795, statutory domestic partnerships. This portion of SB 1800 has been dubbed marriage without the "M" word, but was coupled with the call for a vote on the constitutional amendment. After hearing testimony that started at 8:30am, broke for a recess at 11:15am, resumed at 12:30pm and ran until about 2pm, the Senate Judiciary Committee began the decision-making process. It was at this time that two Senators challenged the time schedule and agenda of the Committee. The lone Republican, Senator Anderson, walked out. Senator Bunda challenged, and Senator Matsunaga countered that 4 years of testimony had been heard, and that "the time for fact-finding was over and it was now fact-facing time." The Judiciary Co-chair Chumbley recommended that: 1) gutted HB 117 HD 1, meaning that all the language was removed, and the language of SB 1800 was inserted. The new bill will be dubbed HB 117 HD 1 SD 1. This passed the Senate Judiciary 4 (Chumbley, Matsunaga, McCarthy & Metcalf) to 2 (Bunda & Sakamoto), with the one excused (Anderson), and will now be presented to the full Senate for consideration; 2) revamped HB 118 by inserting more language from Senate Bill 98, to produce HB 118 SD1. Again, the call for recommendation was made by the Senate Judiciary Co-chair Senator Chumbley and the same exact split occurred. 3) The remaining bills were recommended to be held in committee, meaning that they were not going to be released for future consideration, and a vote was called on each. With Senator Anderson absent, the following votes to hold in committee were recorded: SB 36: 4 (Chumbley, Matsunaga, McCarthy, Metcalf) in favor, 2 (Bunda, Sakamoto) against SB 97: Same split as SB 36 SB 98: 6 in favor SB 795: 6 in favor SB 912: Same split as SB 36 SB 1800: 6 in favor Therefore the full Hawai`i Senate will hear only HB 117 HD 1 SD 1, the bill including marriage without the "M" word for same-sex couples, but coupled with a call for a vote on amending the state constitution to define marriage in terms of one man and one woman, and a limited domestic partnership bill, HB 118 SD 1. After the full Senate hearing and vote, it is expected that a Conference Committee will be held that will incorporate members of the Hawai`i House of Representatives and the Hawai`i Senate Judiciary Committees. The first story should appear in tomorrow's Advertiser. I will post that. I will also post the new bills, with committee reports, as soon as they are made available, as well as the speeches preceeding the calls for acceptance of HB 117 HD 1 SD 1 and HB 118 SD 1 by Senators Chumbley and Matsunaga, respectively. A hui hou, Martin P.S.--We're finally getting some recognition by the national groups after four years of this legislative battle. I got to meet Donna Red Wing of the Human Rights Campaign today. It's almost as if the GLBT community of Hawai`i has earned a place at the national table! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The House [of Representatives] is a corrupt institution." --Newt Gingrich Esquire, 10/89 "I am a creature of the House." --Newt Gingrich The Atlantic, 6/93 ~~~~~ Fred and Martin 24 years, yet strangers before the law ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~