Now that the craziness of the February 5 primary is over I invite readers to focus on state legislative issues again. In this column I will tell you of some victories for the LGBTI community and of some important legislation now being introduced in the state Legislature.
In January, the Lambda Letters Project and our allies managed to obtain the defeat of two bills that would have hurt the LGBTI community. AB 1498 by Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine) would have allowed contractors who get money from state government to discriminate against LGBTI people and others in any part of their activities that were not directly funded by the state. This bill was defeated in the Assembly Business and Professions Committee.
The other bill, AB 708 by Assemblyman Robert Huff (R-Diamond Bar), was defeated in the Assembly Health Committee. This bill would have required the state Department of Education to create abstinence-only sex education programs that state that the only acceptable sexual activity is within a monogamous married couple. This would have taught gay, lesbian, and straight youth that families led by same-sex couples – and sex between those couples – are unacceptable.
The future
Now let's look to the future. The Legislature reconvened on January 7 and legislators began introducing new bills. They have until February 22 to do that. After that, with rare exceptions, no new bills can be introduced. Sometimes legislators get around this time limit by gutting an existing bill that met the deadline and putting entirely new language in it.
At this point there appear to be four bills of interest to the LGBTI community pending in the state Legislature.
AB 250 by DeVore would allow the owner of real property (like a home) to complete a brief document transferring ownership of the property to another person on the death of the owner. This would allow someone to make sure his or her partner had a place to live if the owner dies first. But, if the couple breaks up, it would be easy for the owner to revoke the document. This bill would help couples who have or have not registered as domestic partners with the state.
AB 1757 by Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward) would add domestic partners of victims of crimes to a list of those allowed to testify at the parole hearing of someone who injured or killed their partner, perhaps to urge that the convicted person not be paroled. Currently only the victim, or specified members of his or her family or their representatives may testify at a parole hearing.
SB 1066 by state Senator Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) would allow heterosexual couples of any age to register as domestic partners with the state. Currently, at least one of them must be 62 years old or older. Migden introduced the first domestic partner law passed by the state Legislature and signed by the governor in 1999. She has stated that she intended for that law to allow all heterosexual couples to register as domestic partners, but had to give up that feature of the bill to get the rest of the bill passed. A similar bill introduced last year did not get out of the Legislature.
SB 1113 by Migden. Currently, when married couples or registered domestic partners co-own property and one of them dies and leaves his or her half of the property to the spouse or partner, the property will not be reassessed and property taxes will not be increased. However, when unmarried couples, or same-sex couples who are not registered as domestic partners, co-own the property, the taxes could go up on half the property upon the death of one of the owners. This bill states that the property taxes will not be increased on the property when the deceased person's interest is transferred to the surviving co-owner.
More bills can be introduced up until February 22. To get more information on the above bills, or to see new bills as they are introduced, you may visit Lambda Letters' Web site at www.lambdaletters.org. Click on "Legislative update."
Boyce Hinman is chief lobbyist for the Lambda Letters Project.