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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Espinosa

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/28/07

HB 395

SHORT TITLE

Defining Marriage as the Union Between One Man

and One Woman

SB

ANALYST Ortiz

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to HJR2

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

No Responses Received From

Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 395 seeks to define a valid marriage in New Mexico as that between one man and one

woman and invalidate any claim to a marriage between persons of the same sex, even if the mar-

riage or any right or claim is valid, binding or enforceable in another jurisdiction.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

1)

Section 40-1-1 NMSA 1978 defines marriage as a civil contract for which consent of the

contracting parties is essential. The statute does not restrict the contracting parties to a man

and a woman.

2)

Section 40-1-4 NMA 1978 provides that all marriages celebrated outside New Mexico,

which are valid according to the laws of the country where celebrated or contracted, are valid

in New Mexico. The statute does not exclude same-sex marriages.

House Bill 395 – Page

2

This bill does not consider the rights of domestic partners and would not allow for some equita-

ble division of joint assets. This is particularly concerning when considering the plight of do-

mestic partners who become trapped in violent relationships. In some circumstances, after

spending many years working, raising children and building up assets together, a domestic vio-

lence victim is unwilling or financially unable to leave the relationship because the current state

of New Mexico law would deny them their share of jointly gained assets, and leave them home-

less or without the ability to provide for their children.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Relates to HJR 2

EO/nt