Madame President, I rise in support of the motion to recall HB444HD1 from the Committee on Judiciary.
Madame President, colleagues I rise today and humbly ask that you join me today in a vote to recall HB444HD1, a Bill that “Extends the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners in a civil union.”
I am asking for your help and support, not as the Majority Leader but as an individual Senator, as the primary sponsor of the Senate version of this Bill – and as someone who believes strongly that it is my duty and obligation, that it is our duty and our obligation – to treat people equally, and to provide and protect the equal rights of all people.
That is I am are here today – to request of each of you …to request your support in pulling HB444HD1 to the floor of this Senate…to allow a full and open debate…and ultimately a full and open vote…on answering this important question: Should we “Extend the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners in a civil union?”
For me the answer is yes without question we should. For you the answer may be different…but at the minimum the question deserves to come to this floor for a public discussion and a public vote. – rather than to sit bottled up in committee hamstrung by a 3/3 tie vote.
This is an important issue about the fundamental rights of people and deserves much more than to simply wither away and die an ignoble and anonymous death…stuck undecided and unresolved in committee because of a tie vote.
This issue and the people that have brought this issue forward, the people who have worked so hard to get it to where it is today deserve to have it discussed and voted on by the full Senate…and I am here today to ask that you join with me and allow this to happen.
HB444HD1 lies is stuck in committee because of a tie vote after traveling for over two years through the process. A similar effort to pass civil unions legislation died in the House two years ago after the House Judiciary failed to take a vote on it.
Advocates were told at the time…be patient, take the next year off --- build a broad-based community coalition – include labor, religious groups and others from around the community in your effort – get this passed in the House and we are pretty confident the votes in the Senate will be there for you.
So guess what…that is what they did.
They were patient; they took a year and gathered a broad-based community coalition together. The chorus of voices in support is diverse and strong. Just a few days ago members of that coalition issued a statement asking this body to recall the Bill from Committee and take a vote in the full Senate.
(READ HIGHLIGHTED NOTES AND NAMES FROM OPEN LETTER)
HB444HD1 passed in the House with a 33 to 17 vote…only one vote shy of a supermajority. Even members of the minority party and previously thought conservative Democrats voted in support.
18 members of the Senate then indicated they were in support…one more than the super majority needed to over-ride a veto and the measure was scheduled for a committee hearing.
Knowing the possibility of a tie vote was strong, members were polled on the possibility of a recall vote and at the end of that day 13 said they would support a pull.
Shortly thereafter, the marathon public hearing was held, the vote was taken…and the results were 3 for and 3 against. The Chair of the Committee voted YES in support of the Bill, and the Vice Chair also voted YES in support of the Bill.
Though a majority of Democrats supported passage – two Democrats joined with the Republican minority member to successfully blocking HB444HD1 in committee.
In the end, HB444HD will live or die not because of what happened in committee but through our action or inaction as a group - which is why this motion is being made here today. Which is why I am asking you to join me in allowing this very important measure be brought to the floor for a full and open discussion on its merits, and for a full vote of the Senate.
Why wouldn’t we be willing to recall this Bill from committee for a full discussion and floor vote?
If there are 18 Senators who support the Bill, if there are 18 Senators who support Extending the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners in a civil union - Why is there hesitation now?
This language by the way is the official description of HB444HD and though the word “marriage” seems to make a whole lot of people nervous…this is not a new description and not new language. It has been there from the very beginning.
The stated concerns appear to revolve around 4 points:
Recalling the Bill from committee sets a bad precedent and somehow violates the internal committee process and structure of the Senate.
HB444HD1 is likely to be vetoed by the Governor and so why should we expose ourselves politically when she will veto and the likelihood of being able to over-ride the veto is slim…and so why even bother with taking this further?
HB444HD1 is likely to be challenged in court and we could wind up like Connecticut with same sex marriage being legalized.
Instead of passing HB444HD1, we should focus on amending the Bill, deleting references to marriage and granting some additional rights but not all the rights.
In the interest of time, I will not go into great detail refuting each and every one of these concerns however I will touch briefly on each.
The ability to recall the Bill from Committee is a constitutional right that is rarely used but is there for exactly these types of situations. It was created for situations in which Bills are kept “bottled up” in committee. Bills have been recalled in for a variety of measures over the years including: (Read list of dates and measures)
A review of the votes and reasons given will show clearly the recalls were made based on the Bill being stuck in committee and members feeling strongly that the full Senate needed to debate and vote on the substance of the issue.
A further review of the history also clearly shows that in each case of a recall, there was no subsequent breakdown of the committee process, there was no rush or flurry of attempts to recall other Bills. A review of the history also shows that many members here today, who I believe are not in the support of today’s recall motion, have in the past voted to recall other measures.
Worrying about whether or not the Governor will veto the measure or not, worrying about whether we have the votes to override or whether the House has the votes to over-ride – and failing to act as a result of that worry – to me is a fruitless and self defeating exercise.
If we truly feel that granting full and equal rights to same sex couples is the right thing to do, then we should simply call this measure to the floor and do it and let the Governor do what she must do. At the end of the day we must each look ourselves in the mirror, and judge ourselves for the actions we take. The decision we make today should be based on what we believe is right and just and not on what we speculate the governor may or may not do.
Recent concerns raised that HB444HD1 is “too close to the Connecticut law” and the courts may as a result legalize same sex marriage are unfounded. Though it may very well be likely that this law would be challenged in court – Hawaii Attorney and Professor of Constitutional law, Jon Van Dyke has stated clearly and in writing that the likelihood of this occurring is remote and in fact has used the word “impossible” In addition, Retired Hawaii Supreme Court Associate Justice Steven Levinson has also written “I concur completely with Professor Van Dyke’s analysis”. I have another letter here from ACLU attorney Lois Perrin that says “there is no legal basis for any argument that HB444 as is currently written, will be used as the basis for a law suit for same-sex marriage under the Hawaii State Constitution”…
(I would like to request also that their entire statements be entered into the record as part of my remarks)
Last but not least…is the objection that we should amend the Bill, somehow remove the word marriage from the language, reduce the amount of rights we are granting and pass back over to the House an amended version that the Governor is not likely to veto. This option, though one that I do not personally support at this time…this option remains a possibility.
I would like to thank the Senator from Ewa Beach and the Senator from Downtown…who have each worked very hard trying to craft such an amendment that might be acceptable to the advocates and to the Senate Majority. I applaud your efforts and encourage you to support today’s vote and then offer your amendments to the full Senate on Friday. Should a majority of members vote in support of those amendments, I will join you in that vote of support for the final amended Bill.
In conclusion…
This is a tough issue.
We have pressure from all sides.
There are plenty of reasons we can come up with to postpone or vote no on this.
The main reason to vote yes, the main reason that I personally have not been able to avoid, is one of principle and of obligation.
The principle of course is that - all people are created equal and that all people deserve to be treated fairly, equally and with respect and dignity.
The principle that knowing that this is the right thing to do, the principle that the people affected by this legislation deserve better and deserve our vote in support.
I am voting in support of this measure today and am asking you to join me, because we owe it to those people. These are our friends, our neighbors, and our family members.
We owe them a full and open discussion of the issue and a full vote on the Floor of this Chamber.
I am here today – request your support in recalling HB444HD1 to the floor of this Senate.
But more than that I am asking that each of you simply vote your conscience.
Vote the issue, vote the principle, vote for what you know and believe to be right in your heart.
Thank you Madame President, colleagues.
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Hawaii State Senator Gary L. Hooser
808-586-6030 for official business
http://www.garyhooser.com for other than official business