The House State Affairs Committee hearing on HB 2, the “Add the Words” bill, has recessed for the morning; it’ll reconvene at 3 p.m. “We will not be having a night session tonight, so we will go ‘til about 5 this afternoon,” said Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona. This morning, 36 people have testified, 32 of them strongly in favor of the bill. Three spoke against it, and one was neutral.

As he left, committee member Rep. Ken Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs, said, "It's very revealing, very, very revealing. I wish everybody in this state would hear this testimony."

Loertscher said, "We'll be lucky if we can get through all the testimony (this afternoon). I'm hoping that we do. It's gone quite a bit faster today, though I hate to put time limits on it." If testimony is concluded this afternoon, he said, the committee likely will debate and vote on the bill in the morning. "As soon as we finish up, we'll debate and vote," he said.

The tally on the testimony so far: Since Monday, 154 people have testified, 102 in favor, 51 against, and one neutral.