In
a
little-noticed
action,
the
D.C.
Council
on
Dec.
19
approved
a
bill
that
would
allow
registered
domestic
partners
in
the
city
to
file
joint
returns
for
their
District
of
Columbia
income
taxes
beginning
in
the
2007
tax
year.
The
legislation,
the
Domestic
Partnership
Joint
Filing
Act
of
2006,
is
the
latest
in
a
series
of
far-reaching
domestic
partner
laws
the
Council
has
adopted
over
the
past
three
years.
Gay
activists
and
city
officials
say
the
laws
collectively
provide
same-sex
couples
with
nearly
all
the
local
rights
and
benefits
enjoyed
by
married
couples.
“In
reality,
we
have
civil
unions
in
all
but
name,”
said
gay
D.C.
Councilmember
Jim
Graham
(D-Ward
1),
who
voted
for
the
bill.
“It’s
a
real
sign
that
this
legislature
is
truly
committed
to
equal
rights
for
same-sex
couples.”
But
a
strategy
employed
by
councilmembers
and
some
gay
activists
to
prevent
potential
opposition
to
the
bill
in
Congress,
by
avoiding
publicity
for
the
measure,
may
have
inadvertently
led
to
a
delay
in
the
bill
being
signed
by
outgoing
Mayor
Anthony
Williams.
Williams
had
not
signed
the
bill
as
of
Dec.
28,
nine
days
after
the
bill
reached
his
desk,
according
to
the
Council’s
legislative
services
office.
Under
city
law,
bills
are
sent
to
Congress
for
a
final,
30-day
congressional
review
period
after
the
mayor
signs
them.
If
the
mayor
does
not
sign
such
a
bill,
it
automatically
is
sent
to
Congress
15
business
days
after
the
Council
passes
it
as
long
as
the
mayor
does
not
veto
it.
Williams,
a
long-time
supporter
of
gay
rights,
has
signed
all
the
other
domestic
partner
bills
approved
by
the
Council
during
his
term
in
office,
leaving
activists
puzzled
over
why
he
had
not
signed
this
one.
His
press
secretary,
Vince
Morris,
said
late
last
week
that
he
would
make
inquires
to
determine
whether
Williams
would
sign
the
bill
before
his
term
as
mayor
ended
Tuesday.
Morris
did
not
call
back
by
press
time.
A.
Billy
S.
Jones,
chair
for
Williams’
Lesbian,
Gay,
Bisexual
&
Transgender
Advisory
Committee,
said
he
was
not
aware
of
the
bill
until
contacted
about
it
by
the
Washington
Blade
on
Dec.
31.
He
said
no
one
from
the
mayor’s
office,
including
Darlene
Nipper,
director
of
the
mayor’s
Office
of
LGBT
Affairs
Office,
informed
the
advisory
panel
about
the
bill.
‘It’s
a
great
bill’
Incoming
Mayor
Adrian
Fenty
said
on
Jan.
1
that
he
would
be
happy
to
sign
the
bill
if
Williams
chose
not
to
do
so.
Fenty
has
until
Jan.
10
to
sign
the
measure
before
it
is
dispatched
to
Congress
automatically
following
the
deadline
of
15
business
days.
If
Fenty
signs
the
bill,
it
would
be
the
first
known
time
that
a
Washington
mayor
signed
a
piece
of
legislation
that
he
or
she
also
voted
for
while
a
member
of
City
Council.
“It’s
a
great
bill,”
Fenty
said
Monday.
“That’s
news
to
me,”
he
added,
when
asked
if
he
knew
why
Williams
had
not
signed
the
measure
as
of
Dec.
28.
“Let
me
find
out.
But
my
record
on
the
bill
stands.
We’ll
make
sure
it
happens.”
Fenty
was
sworn
in
as
mayor
in
a
private
ceremony
at
the
D.C.
Court
of
Appeals
Tuesday.
He
postponed
his
public
swearing-in,
originally
planned
for
that
day,
until
Wednesday
in
deference
to
the
funeral
in
Washington
of
former
President
Gerald
Ford.
Councilmember
Jack
Evans
(D-Ward
1),
who
chairs
the
council’s
Committee
on
Finance
&
Revenue,
introduced
the
joint
tax-filing
bill
on
Oct.
17.
Evans
and
his
Council
colleagues
followed
the
Council’s
procedures
for
“announcing”
new
legislation
by
placing
a
notice
about
the
bill
and
a
required
public
hearing
on
the
measure
in
the
District
of
Columbia
Register.
But
Evans
and
the
Gay
&
Lesbian
Activists
Alliance,
which
worked
with
Evans
to
promote
the
bill
behind
the
scenes,
chose
not
to
publicize
the
bill
through
a
news
release
or
through
Evans’
weekly
constituent
newsletter,
which
his
office
sends
to
Ward
2
constituents
and
the
news
media
by
e-mail.
GLAA
spokesperson
Rick
Rosendall
said
the
low-key
approach
was
in
keeping
with
the
group’s
strategy
for
adopting
gay-supportive
legislation
without
triggering
opposition
in
Congress.
Under
the
city’s
limited
home
rule
charter
adopted
by
Congress
in
the
early
1970s,
Congress
retains
the
option
of
preventing
any
locally
passed
city
law
from
taking
effect
by
deciding
whether
or
not
to
veto
the
law
during
a
30-day
congressional
review
period.
Evans’
committee
held
its
hearing
on
the
bill
Nov.
2.
GLAA’s
former
president
Bob
Summersgill
and
officials
with
the
city’s
Office
of
Tax
&
Revenue
were
the
only
witnesses
that
showed
up
to
testify
at
the
hearing.
The
committee
made
some
technical
revisions
to
the
bill
on
Nov.
30,
then
approved
it
by
unanimous
vote.
The
full
Council
gave
preliminary
“first
reading”
approval
of
the
bill
on
Dec.
5
and
passed
the
legislation
in
a
second
and
final
reading
on
Dec.
19.
In
both
readings,
the
council
passed
the
bill
by
unanimous
voice
vote
as
part
of
its
consent
agenda,
which
includes
voting
for
several,
uncontroversial
bills
at
the
same
time.
There
is
no
debate
or
discussion
on
“consent”
bills.
Graham,
who
was
among
the
councilmembers
that
joined
Evans
in
supporting
the
joint
tax
return
bill,
said
placing
the
measure
...
