Joe.My.God. LGBT News
“MONDAY IS CRITICAL. We need to drag the hearing out as long as possible but at least until 9:00 pm. The reason is because Chair Rhoads announced that decision-making would be right after the hearing (decision-making or DM means we will vote on the measure in committee). He is assuming we will be finished early on Monday and if this is the case, they will DM right after the hearing, and hold floor session on Monday night which will be 2nd reading. If Monday night is 2nd reading, then WED will be 3rd reading. Thus, all of our plans for the rally and flooding the house chambers for 3rd reading on Thursday will be moot.
“PLEASE make the final pitch! Anyone who submitted testimony and who received a number MUST SHOW UP ON MONDAY TO TESTIFY! If they cannot make it, please find someone to show up on that person’s “behalf.” So for example, if John Doe has a number but cannot testify because he’s at work, he has Jane Smith show up on his behalf and read his testimony. Jane is NOT REPLACING John’s testimony with her own but is reading his testimony to the group in order to waste time! If you organize people from your churches who can stay at the capitol all day and “read testimony” on behalf of others, that may be a start.” – Garrett Sakimoto, head of the Hawaii Christian Coalition, in a message posted to their website.
Hawaii House officials today began cracking down on this brazen cheating.
Hawaii News Now has confirmed with House Judiciary committee Chair, Representative Karl Rhoads, only individuals who signed up to testify will be allowed to address lawmakers. “If you’re the one who signed up, you’re the one who gets to testify — not somebody else,” Rhoads confirmed Monday morning. “We’re encouraging people to testify, but we want people who played by the rules and signed up when they were supposed to, to be the ones to testify. We’re more than happy to hear your testimony,” Rhoads said. According to Rhoads, he and fellow House Finance committee Chair, Representative Sylvia Luke, have allowed a few exceptions — either because they didn’t notice or to grant permission to a close family member to speak on another’s behalf. Rhoads’ clarification comes after several public filibustering techniques, including speaking on another’s behalf, have been widely disseminated on Facebook and in email correspondence.