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Washington
Key Vote
Expanding Domestic Partnership Rights
Project Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote to pass a bill that expands domestic partnership rights, so as to ensure that for all purposes under state law, domestic partners shall be treated equally as married spouses, with the exception of statutes related to marriage contracts.
NOTE: THIS IS A SUBSTITUTED BILL, MEANING THE LANGUAGE OF THE ORIGINAL BILL HAS BEEN REPLACED.
Official Title of Legislation:
SB 5688: Official Title can be found by clicking on "Full Text of Legislation."
Highlights:
- Requires the terms "spouse," "marriage," "marital," "husband," "wife," "next of kin," "widow," "widower," and "family," when specified in the state code, be interpreted as applying equally to state registered domestic partnerships and, where necessary to implement this Act, be construed as gender neutral, except for chapter 26.04 which concerns marriage contracts (Secs. 3-199).
- Extends various rights, privileges, benefits, and responsibilities to domestic partnerships, including, but not limited to, the following (Secs. 1-199):- Adoption rights;
- Child custody and child support rights and responsibilities;
- Insurance rights;
- Utilization of sick leave to care for a partner;
- Unemployment benefits coverage;
- Disability insurance coverage;
- Industrial insurance (workers compensation) coverage; and
- All privileges, immunities, rights, benefits, and responsibilities granted by state agencies. - Requires domestic partners to initiate a divorce proceeding to dissolve a domestic partnership (Sec. 36).
- This is a substitute bill sponsored by Senate Committee on Ways and Means.
Full Text of Legislation (PDF Document)
Senate Passage: 03/10/2009 : Bill Passed: 30 - 18 House Passage: 04/15/2009 : Bill Passed 62 - 35 Governor Passage: 05/18/2009 : Signed
Sponsors: Sen. Brown, Lisa
Sen. Fairley, Darlene
Sen. Franklin, Rosa
Sen. Fraser, Karen
Sen. Hobbs, Steve
Sen. Jarrett, Fred
Sen. Kauffman, Claudia
| Sen. Keiser, Karen
Sen. Kilmer, Derek
Sen. Kline, Adam
Sen. Kohl-Welles, Jeanne
Sen. McAuliffe, Rosemary
Sen. McDermott, Joe
Sen. Murray, Edward
| Sen. Oemig, Eric
Sen. Prentice, Margarita
Sen. Pridemore, Craig
Sen. Ranker, Kevin
Sen. Regala, Debbie
Sen. Tom, Rodney
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PVS provides summaries for each version of the bill selected as a key vote. The summary does not necessarily reflect the final version of the bill. For further status information, call the Voter's Research Hotline at 1-888-VOTE-SMART (1-888-868-3762).
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