Hawaii Senate Passes Civil Unions Bill 18-7

Big news from Hawai'i! The State Senate passed a bill to allow both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples to enter into civil unions by a veto-proof majority of 18-7.

The bill would allow same-sex and heterosexual couples to enter into civil unions and receive the same rights, benefits and responsibilities as marriage under state law.

The state House passed a civil-unions bill last session that would only apply to same-sex couples. House leaders have said they would wait and see what the Senate vote was before deciding whether to move forward on the Senate version of the bill.

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State House Speaker Calvin Say, D-20th (St. Louis Heights, Palolo Valley,Wilhelmina Rise), said majority Democrats will likely meet on Monday in private caucus to decide how to proceed. Say said one of the factors will be whether the House can muster a two-thirds' majority -- 34 of 51 lawmakers -- to override a veto. The House voted 33 to 17 last session on civil unions, with one lawmaker absent. Say described the vote count now as close.

Say, who supports civil unions, said he would recommend that the House not attempt to address a technical flaw in the Senate version and decide simply whether to send the bill to the governor.

The bill has a technical flaw which claims that if enacted, it would go into effect on January 1, 2010. If the House does pass it by a veto-proof majority without amending it, the State Attorney General has issued an opinion saying that the bill is still constitutional.

Republican Governor Linda Lingle has refused to say whether she would veto the bill or not.

Hat/tip to Rod 2.0.