An attempt by House Republicans to force a vote on a bill to allow flagpoles in planned communities turned into a fight over procedure on the chamber floor.

House Speaker Calvin Say ruled a couple of GOP members out of order as he tried to maintain focus during an argumentative floor session punctuated by catcalls and insults from a gallery filled with military veterans supporting the Republicans' move to recall House Bill 2311.

The procedural motion fell three votes shy of the 14 required to pull it from committee, where it had been deferred.

State Rep. Kymberly Pine, who led the recall effort, said she expects veterans to continue their lobbying to try to get similar legislation passed this year.

“;They have till the end of session to get this language in a bill,”; said Pine (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point). “;That's what they're going to be doing from this point on.”;

Veterans gathered for the House session at the behest of Republicans, who urged them to come and show support for Harold Alejandro, an Army and Air Force veteran whose Ewa community's rules prevented him from hanging a U.S. flag outside his home's front door in memory of two airmen killed in an explosion in Iraq.

House Bill 2311 would have permitted flagpoles in planned communities with reasonable restrictions to maintain aesthetics.

Rep. Rida Cabanilla, the House Housing Committee chairwoman, deferred the measure in committee “;by reason that the bill got a hearing and nobody—nobody, no one—showed at the hearing.”;

Cabanilla (D, Waipahu-Ewa) noted that residents in planned communities can still fly the flag as long as it is not mounted on a pole.

Pine argued, “;No one should have to ask permission to fly the flag.”;

She said in many planned communities like Alejandro's, the procedures to follow for gaining permission to fly a flag are tedious and often costly. She also noted that lawmakers have given exceptions in recent years to allow clotheslines and solar panels on homes in planned communities.

Veterans cheered loudly from the gallery whenever a lawmaker spoke in support, and in some cases shouted “;Sit down!”; to lawmakers who opposed the recall motion.

“;The American flag stands for freedom,”; said Marty Coleman, an Army veteran who works for an organization helping soldiers return to work. “;If you're going to tell us how to fly our flag, that's not freedom.”;