AB 205 (Chapter 421, Statutes of 2003)
Assemblymembers Jackie Goldberg, Christine Kehoe, Paul Koretz, John Laird, Mark Leno, and Senator Sheila James Kuehl
Signed into law by Governor Gray Davis on September 19, 2003

Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act of 2003
Effective Date: January 1st, 2005

·         AB 205 will significantly expand the rights and responsibilities currently provided to registered domestic partners and their families to include nearly all the legal rights, benefits, responsibilities, duties, and obligations under state law currently available only to spouses.  These legal protections and responsibilities help guide couples through nearly every complex legal situation such as death, divorce, custody disputes, illness, childbirth, assumption of parenting responsibilities, and adoption.  AB 205 will also provide crucial protections for children who deserve to have a fully legalized relationship with both of their parents, and deserve to have parents who have a recognized legal relationship to each other.

·    These protections and responsibilities regulate such diverse areas as: financial support during and after the relationship; community property ownership protections; protection from threats and crimes against the families of public officials; child custody, visitation, and duties of financial support of children; decision-making authority for anatomical gifts, autopsy, disposition of remains, funeral arrangements; bereavement leave, family care and medical leave, coverage of partners under medical, dental, life, and disability; insurance, pension rights, and death benefits for state and local government employees; mutual responsibility for debts to third parties; disclosure obligations regarding family relationships and to take other steps to avoid nepotism, conflicts of interest and self-dealing; housing protections, i.e., family student housing, senior citizen housing, and rent control protections; government-regulated benefits, including workers comp, public assistance, transfer of licenses upon death, and the ability to apply for absentee ballots for a partner; communication privileges, including the right not to testify against a partner; and, legal claims dependent upon family status, including claims for victim's compensation

·    Rights and responsibilities NOT INCLUDED under AB 205

·  The 1,049 federal protections, benefits, and responsibilities (per U.S. General Accounting Office), such as social security, Medicare, and federal tax considerations.

·  Assurance to domestic partners that their partnerships will be legally recognized in other states.  

·  Those rights and responsibilities available to married couples under the California Constitution, initiative statutes, or those statutes that have been established in ways that cannot be changed by the Legislature with a bill passed by a simple majority vote.

·  Ability of registered domestic partners to file jointly for their state income tax returns.

·    AB 205 does not conflict with Prop. 22 (The “Knight Initiative”), which was passed by California’s voters in March 2000. The Legislative Counsel opined that enactment of AB 205 does not constitute an amendment of Proposition 22, the California Limit on Marriage Act, which enacted Section 308.5 of the Family Code.   The opinion concludes that "nothing in the language of the initiative statute [Family Code Section 308.5], nor in the ballot arguments in support of the initiative, indicates any intent or requirement that the Legislature be limited in its authority to enact new laws regarding the rights and obligations of domestic partners."  Domestic partnership is a separate, established institution in California, with a distinct history and social meaning.

·    Challenges Against AB 205

   Two Lawsuits - Senator Pete Knight (R - Palmdale) and Randy Thomasson (Campaign for CA Families) have filed two separate lawsuits challenging the validity of AB 205.  The lawsuits alleged that AB 205 alters the scope or effect of Family Code Section 308.5 (Prop. 22) without the approval of California voters in violation of Article II, Section 10 of the California Constitution.  Thomasson's lawsuit also challenges AB 25 (Migden), the bill that was signed into law in 2001.

·  Knight/Haynes Referendum - Senator Knight and Assemblymember Ray Haynes (R - Riverside) originally teamed up to put a referendum on AB 205 in the March 2004 Primary Election.  They eventually dropped this petition effort to focus on the litigation efforts.

·  LGBT Community's Response - Equality California (AB 205's sponsor) is spearheading the statewide efforts to defeat the lawsuits and prevail in the referendum.  Website: www.eqca.org.

·    For more info, please contact:

Office of Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg, 916-319-2045

Equality California, 916-554-7681, www.eqca.org

Lambda Legal, 213-382-7600, www.lambdalegal.org

National Center for Lesbian Rights, 415-392-6257, www.nclrights.org

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