After five days of public testimony in a joint House Judiciary & Finance Committee hearing, the 30-member panel voted Tuesday to pass Hawaii’s marriage equality legislation. The bill will now go to the full House for a vote.
Sign wavers in support of marriage equality stand outside of the Hawaii State Capitol Monday.
Michelle Broder Van Dyke / Via BuzzFeed
HONOLULU — After more than 55 hours of testimony, the joint House committees voted Tuesday to pass Hawaii's marriage equality bill, Senate Bill 1. The House Judiciary Committee and Finance Committee voted 18 to 12. The bill now goes to the full House for a final vote.
The vote comes during a special session called by Gov. Abercrombie for Hawaii's marriage equality bill, and after a Senate hearing by the Committee of Judiciary and Labor and a full Senate vote to send the bill to the House.
Before they voted, the House committees amended Senate Bill 1 to broaden a religious exemption that allows religious leaders to refuse service for same-sex marriage ceremonies and moved the effective date from Nov. 18 to Dec. 2.
People watch the joint committees hearing on TV from the Hawaii State Capitol rotunda Monday.
Michelle Broder Van Dyke / Via BuzzFeed
The general public was allowed to register to testify until midnight on the first day of the House hearing Thursday, Oct. 31. By the end of day, 5,184 people received registered numbers for testimony.
Testifiers were allowed to speak for two minutes. It was decided on Friday, Nov. 1, those who missed their numbers would be allowed another opportunity to testify after the more than 5,000 registered numbers had been called.
