I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2426

To provide benefits to domestic partners of Federal employees. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2003

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ANDREWS, 

Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. EVANS, Mr. 

FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. 

HINCHEY, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HOYER, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. 

LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. 

LOWEY, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. 

MOORE, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. 

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. STARK, Mrs. 

TAUSCHER, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. WEINER, 

Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. WU) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform, and in addition to the 

Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To provide benefits to domestic partners of Federal 

employees.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Domestic Partnership 

3 Benefits and Obligations Act of 2003’’. 

4 SEC. 2. BENEFITS TO DOMESTIC PARTNERS OF FEDERAL 

5 EMPLOYEES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—A domestic partner of an em7 ployee shall be entitled to benefits available to and obliga8 tions imposed upon a spouse of an employee. 

9 (b) CERTIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—In order to ob10 tain benefits under this Act, an employee shall file an affi11 davit of eligibility for benefits with the Office of Personnel 

12 Management certifying that the employee and the domes13 tic partner of the employee—

14 (1) are each other’s sole domestic partner and 

15 intend to remain so indefinitely; 

16 (2) have a common residence, and intend to 

17 continue the arrangement; 

18 (3) are at least 18 years of age and mentally 

19 competent to consent to contract; 

20 (4) share responsibility for a significant meas21 ure of each other’s common welfare and financial ob22 ligations; 

23 (5) are not married to or domestic partners 

24 with anyone else; 

25 (6) understand that willful falsification of infor26 mation within the affidavit may lead to disciplinary 
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1 action and the recovery of the cost of benefits re2 ceived related to such falsification; and 

3 (7)(A) are same sex domestic partners, and not 

4 related in a way that, if the 2 were of opposite sex, 

5 would prohibit legal marriage in the State in which 

6 they reside; or 

7 (B) are opposite sex domestic partners, and are 

8 not related in a way that would prohibit legal mar9 riage in the State in which they reside. 

10 (c) DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—An employee or domestic 

12 partner of an employee who obtains benefits under 

13 this Act shall file a statement of dissolution of the 

14 domestic partnership with the Office of Personnel 

15 Management not later than 30 days after the death 

16 of the employee or the domestic partner or the date 

17 of dissolution of the domestic partnership. 

18 (2) DEATH OFEMPLOYEE.—In a case in which 

19 an employee dies, the domestic partner of the em20 ployee at the time of death shall be deemed a spouse 

21 of the employee for the purpose of receiving benefits 

22 under this Act. 

23 (3) OTHER DISSOLUTION OFPARTNERSHIP.—

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—In a case in which a 

25 domestic partnership dissolves by a method 
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1 other than death of the employee or domestic 

2 partner of the employee, any benefits received 

3 by the domestic partner as a result of this Act 

4 shall terminate. 

5 (B) EXCEPTION.—In a case in which a do6 mestic partnership dissolves by a method other 

7 than death of the employee or domestic partner 

8 of the employee, any health benefits received by 

9 the domestic partner as a result of this Act 

10 shall continue for a period of 60 days after the 

11 date of the dissolution of the partnership. The 

12 domestic partner shall pay for such benefits in 

13 the same manner that a former spouse would 

14 pay for such benefits under applicable provi15 sions of chapter 89 of title 5, United States 

16 Code. 

17 (d) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Any information submitted 

18 to the Office of Personnel Management under subsection 

19 (b) shall be used solely for the purpose of certifying an 

20 individual’s eligibility for benefits under subsection (a). 

21 (e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act: 

22 (1) DOMESTIC PARTNER.—The term ‘‘domestic 

23 partner’’ means an adult person living with, but not 

24 married to, another adult person in a committed, in25 timate relationship. 
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1 (2) BENEFITS.—The term ‘‘benefits’’ means—

2 (A) Civil Service Retirement, as provided 

3 in title 5, chapter 83, of the United States 

4 Code; 

5 (B) Federal Employees’ Retirement, as 

6 provided in title 5, chapter 84, of the United 

7 States Code; 

8 (C) life insurance, as provided in title 5, 

9 chapter 87, of the United States Code; 

10 (D) health insurance, as provided in title 

11 5, chapter 89, of the United States Code; and 

12 (E) compensation for work injuries, as pro13 vided in title 5, chapter 81, of the United 

14 States Code. 

15 (3) EMPLOYEE.—

16 (A) With respect to Civil Service Retire17 ment, the term ‘‘employee’’ shall have the 

18 meaning given such term in section 8331(1) of 

19 title 5, United States Code. 

20 (B) With respect to Federal Employees’ 

21 Retirement, the term ‘‘employee’’ shall have the 

22 meaning given such term in section 8401(11) of 

23 title 5, United States Code. 

24 (C) With respect to life insurance, the 

25 term ‘‘employee’’ shall have the meaning given 
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1 such term in section 8701(a) of title 5, United 

2 States Code. 

3 (D) With respect to health insurance, the 

4 term ‘‘employee’’ shall have the meaning given 

5 such term in section 8901(1) of title 5, United 

6 States Code. 

7 (E) With respect to compensation for work 

8 injuries, the term ‘‘employee’’ shall have the 

9 meaning given such term in section 8101(1) of 

10 title 5, United States Code. 

11 (4) OBLIGATIONS.—The term ‘‘obligations’’ 

12 means any duties or responsibilities that would be 

13 incurred by the spouse of an employee. 

14 SEC. 3. EXEMPTION FROM TAX FOR EMPLOYER-PROVIDED 

15 FRINGE BENEFITS TO DOMESTIC PARTNERS. 

16 Section 106 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

17 (relating to contributions by employer to accident and 

18 health plans) is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC PARTNERS.—The 

21 provisions of section 2 of the Domestic Partnership Bene22 fits and Obligations Act of 2003 shall apply to employees 

23 and domestic partners of employees for purposes of this 

24 section and any other benefit which is not includible in 
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1 the gross income of employees by reason of an express pro2 vision of this chapter.’’.

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