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Maryland General Assembly 2008 - Domestic Partnership Action

May 11, 2008
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The McFreeds report...

The following was taken from Equality Maryland's web site summarizing the two bills that passed the Maryland General Assembly this year pertaining to domestic partnerships. Once signed, these will definitely helpd us with our current goals.

The General Assembly approved two measures that were passed in 2005 but vetoed by Gov. Ehrlich.

Senate Bill 566, sponsored by Senator Robert Garagiola and cross-filed by Delegate James Hubbard, provides 11 protections to domestic partners. These include the right to visit one another in the hospital, share a room in a nursing home and to make funeral decisions for each other. The legislative sponsors and leadership, in particular Health and Government Operations Committee Chair Pete Hammen, invested a significant amount of effort to work with Equality Maryland to ensure passage of the bill.

Senate Bill 597, sponsored by Senator Rona Kramer and cross-filed by Delegate Anne Kaiser, adds "domestic partners" to the list of family members a person can add or remove from the deed of their home without paying recordation and transfer fees and taxes.

Both bills are headed to the Governor [O'Malley]'s desk; he is expected to sign them. The measures will go into effect on July 1, 2008.

Baltimore & Other Maryland Cities Support Gay Marriage Resolution

Mar 20, 2008
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The McFreeds report...

The civil gay marriage idea keeps building steam for 2009! in Maryland!

The Advocate

March 20, 2008

Baltimore Council Supports Civil Marriage Act

The Baltimore city council became the fourth Maryland jurisdiction to pass a resolution supporting the expansion of civil marriage for same-sex couples. The resolution was passed by a 9-3-3 vote on Monday. Baltimore joins College Park, Kensington, and Takoma Park in supporting the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, according to Equality Maryland. Of the 24 state legislators who represent Baltimore, at least 11 have committed to voting for the act.

"Expanding civil marriage to include same-sex couples is the fair thing to do," council member Bill Henry, who introduced the resolution, said in a statement. "I am proud of my colleagues who stood up for all of our families in Baltimore. I hope this resolution will nudge those state legislators from Baltimore who are not yet enthusiastically supporting this historic legislation to rethink their position."

In February, city council president Stephanie Rawlings-Blake submitted testimony in support of the act. "Marriage is a unique institution on many levels: religious, spiritual, and social," she wrote. "Marriage is also a civil institution that affords many economic and contractual benefits that are not afforded to people as individuals. I do not believe that people should be denied any of these rights just because they do not fall under the legal definition of marriage." (The Advocate)