I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3267 

To provide benefits to domestic partners of Federal employees. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 13, 2005 

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. FILNER, Ms. 

LEE, Mr. OWENS, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. DINGELL, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, 

Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. SABO, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of 

California, Mr. OLVER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. CASE, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Ms. CARSON, Mr. 

STARK, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mrs. JONES

of Ohio, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, 

Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. HOLT, Mr. MEEHAN, 

Mr. WEINER, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. WATSON, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. RANGEL, 

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. LARSON

of Connecticut, Mr. CLAY, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. FARR, Mr. MARKEY, and Ms. 

HARMAN) 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’’. 

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 benefits under— 

3 (A) chapter 81 of title 5, United States 

4 Code (relating to compensation for work inju5 ries); 

6 (B) subchapter III of chapter 83 of such 

7 title (relating to the Civil Service Retirement 

8 System); 

9 (C) chapter 84 of such title (relating to the 

10 Federal Employees’ Retirement System); 

11 (D) chapter 87 of such title (relating to 

12 life insurance); and 

13 (E) chapter 89 of such title (relating to 

14 health insurance). 

15 (3) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ has the 

16 meaning given such term by— 

17 (A) section 8101(1) of title 5, United 

18 States Code, when used with respect to benefits 

19 described in paragraph (2)(A); 

20 (B) section 8331(1) of such title, when 

21 used with respect to benefits described in para22 graph (2)(B); 

23 (C) section 8401(11) of such title, when 

24 used with respect to benefits described in para25 graph (2)(C); 
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1 (D) section 8701(a) of such title, when 

2 used with respect to benefits described in para3 graph (2)(D); and 

4 (E) section 8901(1) of such title, when 

5 used with respect to benefits described in para6 graph (2)(E). 

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

8 means any duties or responsibilities that would be 

9 incurred by the spouse of an employee. 

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

11 FRINGE BENEFITS TO DOMESTIC PARTNERS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 106 of the Internal Rev13 enue Code of 1986 (relating to contributions by employer 

14 to accident and health plans) is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC PARTNERS.—The 

17 provisions of section 2 of the Domestic Partnership Bene18 fits and Obligations Act shall apply to employees and do19 mestic partners of employees for purposes of this section 

20 and any other benefit which is not includible in the gross 

21 income of employees by reason of an express provision of 

22 this chapter.’’. 
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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2005. 

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