EQUITY WATCH : Domestic Partnering

The Legislature had the right idea last summer when it passed a modest but compassionate bill that helps unmarried couples, primarily seniors and gay couples, to care for each other in the event of serious illness and to provide for one another in the event of death.

That bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), would have created a Domestic Partners Registry, extending certain rights in times of crisis, now often denied, to unmarried individuals who share a residence and are responsible for one another’s living expenses. Those rights include hospital visitation, conservatorship capability and ease in willing property to one another.

Last summer lawmakers understood that this bill upheld the most traditional of values, mutual support and responsibility. Regrettably, Gov. Pete Wilson, in the midst of his reelection campaign, did not and vetoed this reasonable measure.

Katz has quickly reintroduced his bill this year. It is identical to the version that the Legislature had approved, but now the key Congress of California Seniors is a co-sponsor.

The bill, which has its first test this week in the Assembly Judiciary Committee, faces tougher going this year than last: The Legislature is now sharply divided, and any issue, no matter how reasonable, can become grist for the partisan mill. And although his reelection campaign is over, the governor is exploring launching a campaign for the presidency. But Katz’s bill made sense last summer, and it makes no less sense today.