BILL ANALYSIS AB 1059 Date of Hearing: May 14, 1997 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Carole Migden, Chairwoman AB 1059 (Migden) - As Amended: April 21, 1997 Policy Committee: Insurance Vote: 9-4 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: no SUMMARY Specifically, this bill : 1. Defines domestic partners. 2. Establishes a domestic partnership registry in the Secretary of State (SOS) and requires: a) SOS to prepare and distribute appropriate forms for the registry to county clerks. b) SOS to establish fees for the actual cost of the forms and processing. c) The registry forms to be notarized,binding and valid. 3. Establishes a waiting period following the termination of one domestic partnership and a new registration. 4. Requires group health and disability insurers to offer the same coverage and benefits for domestic partners as are offered for dependents. FISCAL EFFECT 1. No new costs to the state because the bill provides for fees to offset the costs of the registry. 2. SOS estimates costs of $253,000 for 25,000 registrations in the first six months, $461,000 for 50,000 registrations during the following 12 months and on-going costs of $216,000 based on a fee of $10 per registrant. BACKGROUND - continued - AB 1059 Page 1 AB 1059 This bill stops discriminatory health insurance practices by insurers and employers by requiring the same "dependent" coverage offered or provided to married adults to be provided to domestic partners. This bill applies to the elderly and other unmarried opposite sex couples and same sex couples. - continued - AB 1059 Page 2