Hawaii House Approves Gay Unions Bill
- By
- On Top Magazine Staff
- | February 12, 2011
The Hawaii House on Friday approved a bill that would offer gay and lesbian couples identical benefits and responsibilities to marriage, the Star Advertiser reported.
Lawmaker approved the legislation with a 31 to 19 vote.
A similar measure sailed through the Senate in the final week of January. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the measure with a 3-2 vote on Tuesday and by Friday the full Senate had agreed with a 19 to 6 vote.
The bill now heads back to the Senate to approve differences between the two bills.
Changes in the House bill include a provision clarifying taxes and another on matters of annulment, divorce and separation.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Clayton Hee called the changes reasonable.
Lawmakers approved a nearly identical bill last year, but then-Governor Linda Lingle, a Republican, vetoed the measure. Governor Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat, has pledged to sign the civil unions bill into law.
If approved, Hawaii would become the third state to offer the union behind New Jersey and Illinois, whose governor signed a similar measure into law last month.