Truly the most disguisting testimony I've heard yet in these states. The Mormon Church went into overdrive with the bigots.
I agree that the LDS Church is behind a significant number of testifiers at the House committee hearing in Hawaii. Fred Karger was absolutely right when he said that the LDS would try to come back stealthily, but no proof of it has surfaced other than several testifiers identifying themselves as Mormon. The goal seems to have been to effectively filibuster the bill with testimony.
Don't worry. While the House committee hearing is the most extreme we have seen in terms of length, it will be concluded eventually. The half way point was reached sometime yesterday, so I suppose it will be done by Tuesday.
Here is the complicated bit:
When the testimony is over, several amendments could be offered and a vote taken. Bob McDermott is probably the most anti-gay member of the House, and he is one of those Republicans who is so obnoxious that not even his friends like him. Though he will try to offer fatal amendments, there is a good chance that the committee won't pass any because of the rather sizable majority (20-8) in favor of it.
The House committee is actually a joint hearing of the finance and judiciary committees. The joint committee will not take a vote as a whole, leaving the vote to the individual committees. However, each one has about the same 2-1 majority in favor of SB1. Because the amendments approved in one committee must be recommended by the other, amendments could end up prolonging the bill even further. The majority is so big that there will not be much of an appetite to go for extra delays, leaving the amendment process to the House body.
That said, the House vote in favor is assured with at least 27 confirmed votes (26 needed) and probably several more. That majority, being slim, might not be enough to ward off some amendments that would curtail Hawaii's human rights act that was passed in 1991. Should the House amend SB1, it would have to go into conference committee, where the amendments could be stripped, and the bill voted on again. In a reasonable timeframe, this could all be accomplished by Friday.
On a side note, this timeframe leaves Hawaii and Illinois neck and neck for the #15 slot next week, with New Mexico in legal limbo.