Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Chances Slim for Partner Bill

By Dan Boyd
Journal Capitol Bureau
       SANTA FE — "Technically alive" was the best supporters could say about the future of a domestic partnerships bill Monday after a possibly fatal 5-5 vote in a Senate committee.
    The tie vote left Senate Bill 12 stalled — perhaps permanently — in the Senate Judiciary Committee as one Democrat sided with Republican opponents and another Democrat left the committee room before the vote was taken.
    She said later that she would have voted against the bill.
    Though supporters of the measure described Monday's vote as a setback, Gov. Bill Richardson, who supports the idea of domestic partnerships, might seek to exert his influence in an attempt to move the bill forward.
    "We'll be visiting with those legislators who don't currently support the bill," said Eric Witt, Richardson's legislative liaison, after the vote. "The bill is still technically alive in committee."
    The bill, known as the "Domestic Partners Rights and Responsibilities Act," would extend the same legal benefits that married couples enjoy under New Mexico law to unmarried couples who file an application and pay a minimal fee.
    Domestic partners would have the right to take medical leave to care for an ill partner, the authority to make end-of-life decisions on each other's behalf and the legal standing to benefit from inheritance.
    Unlike last week's vote in the Senate Public Affairs Committee, where members voted in favor of the measure after more than three hours of debate and testimony from the public, Monday's vote was quick and straightforward.
    Sen. Richard Martinez, D-Española, voted against the measure along with the four Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
    Sen. Bernadette Sanchez, D-Albuquerque, missed the vote because of what she described as an important phone call, but she later told reporters she would have voted no.
    "My constituents want me to vote no," Sanchez said.
    A "no" vote by Sanchez would have defeated a favorable recommendation on the bill with a 6-5 committee vote.
    The other five Democrats on the committee voted in favor of the bill.
    Opponents of domestic partnerships fear the bill could be the "Trojan horse" that opens the door to gay marriage in New Mexico, and one such opponent described his emotions after Monday's vote as "reserved euphoria."
    "The state is now allowing issues to take place that are like a war on the church," said Kevin Haney, a pastor at Word of Life Baptist Church in Rio Rancho. "It's going too far."
    Roman Catholic leaders also oppose the measure.
    But supporters said they won't back down, even if the bill isn't revived during the current session.
    "If anybody thinks the gay community is going to stop supporting this kind of legislation, they're crazy," said Linda Siegle, a lobbyist with Equality New Mexico.
    Earlier Monday, Siegle and more than 100 other supporters of the domestic partnership bill demonstrated outside the Roundhouse.
    Backers of the measure then filed inside, where a number of opponents of the bill also had arrived early in anticipation of Monday's vote. By the time the Senate Judiciary Committee convened its meeting, the committee room was jammed with people. After the committee room reached capacity, others were barred from entering.
    Richard Avery, a former Presbyterian pastor in New York who now lives in Santa Fe, was one of those who showed up to back the bill.
    "I think there's a lot of fear regarding sexual issues," said Avery, who said he believes some religious groups opposing the bill have based their arguments on a "superficial" version of the Bible.
    Three states — California, Massachusetts and Connecticut — currently allow same-sex marriages, though California's law is in limbo. An additional eight states have sanctioned varying degrees of civil unions or domestic partnerships. Sponsors of the New Mexico legislation say it is not a marriage bill.
    A total of 41 states have passed laws defining marriage as between one man and one woman, and 30 states have approved constitutional amendments barring same-sex marriage, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

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