Minnesota Passes ‘Final Wishes’ Bill
Domestic-partner bill advances
Domestic partners would have the right to determine what happens with the remains of a deceased partner under a bill passed by the Minnesota House on Tuesday.
The “Final Wishes” bill defines domestic partners and gives them decisionmaking power ahead of children, siblings and parents after a partner’s death.
The measure would also give domestic partners the right to sue for damages in cases of wrongful death.
The bill passed the House 78-55 and earlier passed the Senate 41-24. It now will go to a conference committee to work out differences between the two versions.
House Republicans criticized the bill as divisive and a diversion at a time when legislators are trying to resolve a $3 billion budget deficit. But Rep. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, a nurse and nursing instructor at St. Catherine University who sponsored the House bill, said it is one step toward reversing what she said are more than 500 examples of discrimination against same-sex partners in Minnesota law. It should also help families address tough decisions more easily at the time of a loved one’s death, she said.
Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-St. Louis Park, who sponsored the wrongful-death provision, said the definitions of domestic partner were based on definitions used by the state’s large corporations. “They’re ahead of us on this,” he said.
BILL MCAULIFFE
Pawlenty signs domestic abuse bill
Text messages meant to intimidate would be gross misdemeanors under a law that raises the criminal level of a range of domestic abuse behaviors and was signed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Monday.
The law also would allow courts to include a specific admonition against pet abuse in a protection order, because pet abuse is often used as intimidation, said Rep. Debra Hilstrom, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and Sen. Mee Moua, DFL-St. Paul, two of the bill’s sponsors.