Hawaii's House Judiciary Committee will consider a civil unions bill during a Tuesday public hearing, the Associated Press reports.

The legislation is near-identical to a bill passed last year by the Hawaii legislature, only to be vetoed by outgoing Republican Gov. Linda Lingle. Gov. Neil Abercrombie has said he supports civil unions.

The state senate passed a bill last month that would allow couples to enter into civil unions. In 1998, Hawaii voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing the legislature to limit marriage to heterosexual couples.

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