Yesterday's Adjournment Sine Die was by far the best and most exciting of my brief four years working at the Hawaii State Legislature. After a long & grueling session of heated debate amongst House Majority & Minority members and veto overrides, House Majority Leader Blake Oshiro made a motion on the House Floor to revive HB 444, a measure permitting same-sex and heterosexual civil unions. House members voted to pass the bill on final reading and the votes were 31 ayes to 20 noes. We watched everything unfold on Capitol TV from our office, literally on the edge of our seats... it was like watching an intense episode of Lost! After a long, long road, the civil-unions bill finally passed! Words cannot express how happy and proud I felt yesterday... to be honest, it was the first time I've ever felt that way since being here. Yesterday was a historic day for Hawaii, and I'm truly happy that I was able to be a part of it.
Here are a few articles about it:
Historic civil-unions bill gets House OK
Lawmakers pass civil-unions bill
