18-7 vote is enough to override potential veto from governor

Yesterday, the Hawaii Senate passed a civil unions bill, and made sure that they had a big enough cushion for nixing a possible governor veto. The senators involved were keen making history, and were prepared to make good on a fumble last year when this was tried.

It’s reported that the Senate gallery erupted with joy and relief by a crowd of LGBT activists, while religious conservatives exited the scene. However, this may be a brief victory. Like many other states, there is the threat of it being voted on at the ballot box. The date for the law to go into effect was January 1,2010 because law makers had thought this would have been resolved in 2009. This flaw (retroactive date) though not illegal could complicate matters at the Department of Health in moving forward with civil unions.

The Honolulu Advertisers reports, “State Sen. Sam Slom, R-8th (Kāhala, Hawai’i Kai), said voters should ultimately decide, and he proposed a constitutional amendment for the November ballot asking whether marriage should be reserved for heterosexual couples.”