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State House Speaker Joseph Souki said Wednesday that Gov. Neil Abercrombie informed him that he was not ready to call a special session on gay marriage.
Souki would not say whether the House had the votes for a gay marriage bill after House Democrats met in private caucus to discuss a special session. The governor had been waiting for a House vote count before making his decision on a special session. The state Senate has the votes for a gay marriage bill.
Instead, Souki shifted the discussion back to the governor.
"We had a very interesting session," Souki told reporters. "And I had to report to them (House Democrats) that the governor at this point is not ready to call a special session. And so we will have continual discussion on the merits of the draft that’s being presented by the governor and by the concerns that (were) presented by the caucus over here."
Louise Kim McCoy, Abercrombie’s spokeswoman, confirmed that the governor had spoken with Souki but would only say that discussions about a special session are ongoing.
House Majority Leader Scott Saiki said lawmakers discussed the scope of a religious exemption in a draft gay marriage bill.
