The Senate Judiciary Committee removed all the text of the House draft
(HB 117 HD 1) and replaced it with the text of SB 1800; it then approved
the new draft 4 to 2 with one Senator not voting. Here is the constitutional
language of SB 1800:
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MARRIAGE The State shall have the power to regulate and define the institution of marriage, including the reservation of marriage to couples of the opposite sex; provided that this reservation shall be effective only if the laws of the State ensure that the application of this reservation does not deprive any person of civil rights on the basis of sex." |
The Committee took the list of "reciprocal beneficiary" benefits in HB 118 HD 1, together with the different list of benefits in SB 98 (for a total of about 7 benefits), and merged them with some editing to produce HB 118 SD 1. The text should be available on the internet within a day. This also passed 4 to 2 with one Senator not voting.
All other bills on the agenda were held: SB 36, SB 96, and SB 912 by the vote of 4-2-1. SB 98, SB 795, and SB 1800 were held by a vote of 6-0-1.
The Senator excused from voting was the Republican, Whitney Anderson. The majority of four was formed by Senators Matsunaga, Chumbley, McCartney, and Metcalf [Sen. Metcalf was appointed Saturday to replace Senator Richard Matsuura of Hilo; Sen. Matsuura has resigned for health reasons.] The minority of two consisted of Senators Bunda and Sakamoto.
Full committee reports will be available within a day on the internet.
To follow the story in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the state's afternoon
daily paper, use the web site http://starbulletin.com/specials/samese.html
Best Regards,
Tom Ramsey
Marriage Project - Hawaii
PS:
Effective this, h.e.r.m.p has changed its
name to Marriage Project - Hawaii. It is still a project of
the GLCC (Gay and Lesbian Community Center), and fully tax-deductible with
the same tax ID and team as before . The name change is fully endorsed
by Dan Foley, the Hawaii attorney for the marriage case. Marriage
Project - Hawaii remains the only organization that pays Dan Foley's fees.
Dan Foley asks that all tax-deductible
contributions be sent to
Marriage Project - Hawaii
PO Box 11690
Honolulu, HI 96828.
Phone: (808) 261-4568 (Sue Reardon, Director)
[TR: as of 06-16-98, the phone number is (808) 942-3737]
Fax: (808) 262-9509
[TR: as of 06-16-98, the fax number is (808) 947-4649]
E-mail: MPH@hawaii.rr.com