UPDATED WITH BILL @ 2:47 P.M.
State Sen. Pat Steadman’s civil union bill was introduced into the Colorado Senate this afternoon.
The Colorado Civil Unions Act, or SB 172, will head to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A volunteer for One Colorado holds messages to Colorado lawmakers asking them to pass a civil union bill that was introduced today.
All Democrats in the Senate are co-sponsors. The party is the majority and the bill will pass. The bill’s chances in the Republican controlled House remain to be seen.
Two House Democrats voted against a designated beneficiary bill in 2009. That law provides estate planning measures for non-married Coloradans. Supporters of the civil union bill will have to convince all three Republicans who supported the same measure if those Democrats vote against civil unions.
Denver Democrat Rep. Mark Ferrandino is the House sponsor. He said he has enough votes to pass the legislation if it clears the committee.
In the most detailed interview about the bill since December, when Steadman announced he’d introduce the legislation, Steadman said while each piece of the law is a critical protection for Colorado families, the bill unto itself is paramount.
The bill duplicates or expands on many of the protections laws in Colorado afford the GLBT community, but Steadman said, “Having a civil union bill is much more powerful.”
Steadman said the bill would establish more than new laws but equality for GLBT couples and families.
“The concept, the status, the dignity that comes from knowing your relationship is valued and included and treated equally for purposes of our stat law — there’s something bigger than any one of the benefits, protections or previsions of the bill,” Steadman said.
Steadman said the two most important provisions of the law are adoption and property rights.
If the bill is signed into law, couples in a civil union will be able to adopt jointly or add a partner as a stepparent, Steadman said.
Colorado already has a law allowing for a second parent adoption. However, it’s a costly step, Steadman said.
If a couple enters into a civil union and later decides to dissolve it, the partnership will be treated exactly like a divorce, Steadman said. The courts will follow the same statues and have the same powers rather a marriage or a civil union.
Steadman said at a press conference earlier in the day, legal dissolution could prevent one half of a gay or lesbian couple from being left homeless after a breakup.
Other protections under the new bill include institutional visitations rights, inheritance rights reciprocity and freedom of religion. The bill does not have a mandate for spousal health benefits. But, if passed, it would set-up a commission to examine the state’s tax code to see how a couple in a civil union should be taxed.
Colorado’s Amendment 43 defines marriage between a man and a woman. A domestic partnership referendum was defeated in 2006.
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