I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4609 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide for treatment of 

permanent partnerships between individuals of the same gender as marriage for purposes of determining entitlement to benefits under such 

title. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 24, 2012 

Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California (for herself, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BACA, 

Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. BASS of California, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Mrs. 

CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CARNAHAN, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. CHU, 

Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLAY, Mr. COURTNEY, 

Mr. CROWLEY, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, 

Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 

FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

GUTIERREZ, Ms. HAHN, Ms. HANABUSA, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. HIMES, Mr. 

HINCHEY, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, 

Mr. KEATING, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN

of California, Mrs. LOWEY, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. GEORGE

MILLER of California, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MORAN, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OLVER, Mr. PALLONE, 

Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. POLIS, Mr. 

QUIGLEY, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of 

California, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. 

SCHWARTZ, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. 

STARK, Mr. TONKO, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. WALZ of Minnesota, Mr. WAXMAN, 

Mr. WELCH, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, 

Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. HEINRICH, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 


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A BILL 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide 

for treatment of permanent partnerships between individuals of the same gender as marriage for purposes of 

determining entitlement to benefits under such title. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Social Security Equal5 ity Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF PERMANENT PARTNERSHIPS 

7 UNDER TITLE II OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY 

8 ACT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 216 of the Social Security 

10 Act (42 U.S.C. 416) is amended by adding at the end the 

11 following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘Permanent Partnership 

13 ‘‘(m)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 

14 title and under regulations of the Commissioner of Social 

15 Security prescribed as required under paragraph (3): 

16 ‘‘(A) In any case in which the Commissioner 

17 determines, in connection with the application by (or 

18 on behalf of) an individual for a benefit under this 

19 title, that a current or former marriage between the 

20 applicant and another individual, or between 2 other 

21 individuals, is a prerequisite for entitlement of the 


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1 applicant to such benefit and the application des2 ignates, for treatment as such a marriage for pur3 poses of such application, an arrangement between 

4 2 individuals of the same gender— 

5 ‘‘(i) if the Commissioner determines that 

6 such arrangement is (or was) a permanent 

7 partnership within the meaning of paragraph 

8 (2), such arrangement shall be treated for pur9 poses of this title as a marriage of such individ10 uals; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) each female party to such arrange12 ment shall be treated as a wife with respect to 

13 such arrangement (referencing the other party 

14 as such individual’s spouse in connection with 

15 such arrangement) and each male party to such 

16 arrangement shall be treated as a husband with 

17 respect to such arrangement (referencing the 

18 other party as such individual’s spouse in con19 nection with such arrangement). 

20 ‘‘(B) An arrangement between individuals of 

21 the same gender shall be treated as a former mar22 riage under subparagraph (A) in connection with an 

23 application for benefits under this title only if the 

24 Commissioner determines that such arrangement 

25 has been dissolved under the laws of the State of 


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1 domicile of the applicant. In any case in which the 

2 Commissioner determines that such an arrangement 

3 has been so dissolved— 

4 ‘‘(i) the dissolution of such arrangement 

5 shall be treated as a divorce with respect to 

6 such arrangement; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) each female individual who was a 

8 party to such arrangement shall be treated as 

9 a divorced wife with respect to such arrange10 ment (referencing the other party as such indi11 vidual’s divorced spouse in connection with such 

12 arrangement) and each male individual who was 

13 a party to such arrangement shall be treated as 

14 a divorced husband with respect to such ar15 rangement (referencing the other party as the 

16 applicant’s divorced spouse in connection with 

17 such arrangement). 

18 ‘‘(C) In any case in which the Commissioner de19 termines that, after an individual entitled to a 

20 monthly insurance benefit under section 202 became 

21 so entitled, such individual and another individual of 

22 the same gender have entered into an arrangement 

23 that constitutes a permanent partnership, such ar24 rangement shall be treated as a marriage of such in25 dividuals for purposes of any provision of such secVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:15 Apr 26, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4609.IH H4609

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1 tion providing for termination of such entitlement 

2 upon marriage or remarriage. 

3 ‘‘(D) Upon receipt by the Commissioner of an 

4 application by (or on behalf of) an individual for a 

5 benefit under this title containing certification by (or 

6 on behalf of) the applicant, submitted in such form 

7 and manner as shall be prescribed in such regula8 tions, that the applicant is a stepchild or adopted 

9 child of an individual who is or was a party to an 

10 arrangement consisting of a permanent partnership, 

11 if such arrangement is treated as a marriage under 

12 subparagraph (A) and, under the laws of the domi13 cile of the applicant, the applicant is, at the time of 

14 such application, treated as a stepchild or adopted 

15 child of such party to such arrangement, the appli16 cant shall be treated as such a stepchild or adopted 

17 child of such party (referencing such party as a par18 ent of the applicant). 

19 ‘‘(E) Upon receipt by the Commissioner of an 

20 application by (or on behalf of) an individual for a 

21 benefit under this title containing certification by (or 

22 on behalf of) the applicant, submitted in such form 

23 and manner as shall be prescribed in such regula24 tions, that the applicant is or was a party to an ar25 rangement consisting of a permanent partnership 


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1 and that the applicant is a parent of an individual 

2 who is a stepchild or adopted child of the applicant 

3 with respect to such arrangement, if such arrange4 ment is treated as a marriage under subparagraph 

5 (A) and, under the laws of the domicile of the appli6 cant, the applicant is, at the time of such applica7 tion, treated as a parent of such individual with re8 spect to such arrangement, the applicant shall be 

9 treated as such a parent of such individual (ref10 erencing such individual as a stepchild or adopted 

11 child of the applicant). 

12 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘per13 manent partnership’ means, in connection with any indi14 vidual, a committed, intimate arrangement which is be15 tween such individual and another individual who have 

16 both attained 18 years of age and which has been recog17 nized and certified as legally valid by the State of domicile 

18 of the applicant, in any case in which— 

19 ‘‘(A) each such individual intends a lifelong 

20 commitment to the other; 

21 ‘‘(B) such individuals are financially inter22 dependent; 

23 ‘‘(C) such individuals are unable to contract 

24 with each other a marriage cognizable under this 

25 title (other than as provided in this subsection); 


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1 ‘‘(D) each such individual is not a first, second, 

2 or third degree blood relation of the other individual; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(E) each such individual is neither married 

5 (within the meaning of this title other than as pro6 vided in this subsection) to, nor in a relationship de7 scribed in the preceding provisions of this paragraph 

8 with, any third individual. 

9 ‘‘(3) The Commissioner shall prescribe such regula10 tions as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this 

11 subsection. In prescribing such regulations, the Commis12 sioner shall take into account the laws of the State of 

13 domicile of an applicant for benefits under this title so 

14 as to ensure that such provisions, together with the other 

15 provisions of this title as applied in accordance with this 

16 subsection, are appropriately coordinated with each other 

17 and with the laws of such State.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 this section shall apply with respect to monthly insurance 

20 benefits for months after November 2012 for which appli21 cations are filed after December 31, 2012, and with re22 spect to lump-sum death payments in connection with 

23 deaths occurring after such date. 

Æ 


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