SB1 (Hawaii)

SB1 is a bill in the Hawaii legislature during the second special session of 2013. The bill would legalize same-sex marriage starting December 2, 2013.

Background
On September 11, 2013, Governor Abercrombie called a special session of the state legislature for the purpose of debating a marriage bill. Two versions of the bill were released by the Governor's office, with a third version being introduced in the legislature.

The bill, identified as SB1, was introduced in the Senate on the first day of the session, Monday, October 28. In the bill's first reading, it passed with one "no" vote, being referred to the Senate Judiciary and Labor committee (JDL). After 10 hours of testimony that afternoon and evening, the Judiciary and Labor committee passed the bill unamended by a 5-2 vote.

The following day, the Senate passed the bill on second reading, a procedural step. Then on Wednesday, after several Senators giving speeches for and against the bill, the Senate gave a final vote of 20-4 (with one Senator absent), passing SB1 to the House of Representatives.

Wednesday afternoon, the House passed the bill in its first reading and assigned the bill to two committees, House Judiciary and House Finance (JUD and FIN). Starting Thursday morning and running across Friday, Saturday, and the following Monday and Tuesday, the joint committees heard an unprecedented 57 hours of testimony for and against the bill. After over 90 minutes of deliberation, the committees announced their votes: 8-5 in favor of amending the bill and passing it as amended from the Judiciary committee, and 10-7 for amending and passing from the Finance committee.

On Wednesday, November 6, the House received the joint committee report and debated and voted on nine floor amendments to the bill as it had been amended by the committees. Each of these amendments failed by varying votes.

Since the bill had been amended by the committees, House rules required that two days pass before third reading. So on Friday, November 8, the House began third reading debates. Sixteen floor amendments were offered, many identical to amendments from second reading or to one another. Each of these amendments failed by varying votes. Finally, in the final House vote, the vote was 30-19 in favor of passage.

With the versions passed by the Senate and House differing from one another, the bill went back to the Senate that evening for concurrence. The Senate had already adjourned for the day, and with Monday being a federal holiday (Veterans' Day), action was referred until Tuesday, November 12.

Timeline

 * 2013-09-11: Governor Abercrombie calls a special session for the purpose of debating this bill
 * 2013-10-22: Text of bill presented
 * 2013-10-28: Senate - introduction, first reading (passed with 1 nay), referral to Senate Judiciary and Labor committee
 * 2013-10-28: Senate JDL committee - Testimony received, vote (passed 5-2)
 * 2013-10-29: Senate - second reading (passed by voice vote)
 * 2013-10-30: Senate - third reading (passed 20-4 with 1 absent)
 * 2013-10-30: House - introduction, first reading (passed by voice vote), referral to House Judiciary and House Finance committees
 * 2013-10-31: House JUD/FIN committees - Testimony received
 * 2013-11-01: House JUD/FIN committees - Testimony received
 * 2013-11-02: House JUD/FIN committees - Testimony received
 * 2013-11-04: House JUD/FIN committees - Testimony received
 * 2013-11-05: House JUD/FIN committees - Testimony received, vote (JDL passed 8-5, FIN passed 10-7)
 * 2013-11-06: House - second reading (passed by voice vote)
 * 2013-11-07: House - third reading (passed 30-19 with 2 absent)