Resurrection!!
Resurrection!!
Resurrection!!
The following is a story about a piece of legislation that should be dead, dead as a door nail. And yet, remarkably, it has suddenly come back to life.
The fact that it has done so is a testament to the effectiveness of the work that we do together. For those of you who regularly respond to our alerts, please take this as an expression of my profound gratitude for your willingness to do what must be done.
For those of you who don't respond, or who rarely respond, I hope the following story will inspire you to become regular responders to our E-mail alerts.
Here is the story. AB 724 creates a simple fill in the blanks form that a homeowner could use to name a beneficiary to receive his or her home, on the death of the homeowner. The beneficiary would receive that home immediately on the death of the owner. The property would not have to go through the long, expensive, probate process on the death of the owner.
This can really help seniors ( men and women) who live together because they are on limited income. If one of them owns the home they share the other is assured of a continuing place to live if the owner dies first.
The document can also help same sex couples where one of them owns the home they share. If the owner dies first, the survivor is assured of a place to live. However, if their relationship goes sour, it is easy and inexpensive for the homeowner to revoke the deed.
AB 724 was approved unanimously by the Assembly, but then died last summer in The Senate Judiciary Committee. A previous version of the bill (AB 250) suffered a similar fate in 2008, unanimous approval by the Assembly, death in Senate Judiciary.
Last summer the Chair and Vice Chair of the Senate Judiciary committee voted against AB 724, as did Democratic Senator Florez. That killed the bill, even though Senators Leno and Walters voted for it. The three committee members who voted no were all attorneys by profession. Two of them were probate attorneys. It is possible they opposed AB724 because it would take homes out of probate court which would mean probate attorneys might have less paying work. The committee did "grant reconsideration" meaning we could ask for a new vote later. But that is always granted as a courtesy.
Last winter, we went to President of the Senate Darrell Steinberg's office and told his staff how important this bill is to LGBTI people and seniors. We requested that the Senator use his power, as President of the Senate, to replace Florez with a Senator more supportive of the bill. We never got a response. However, this spring, Senator Hancock replaced Senator Florez on the committee. She had voted for two previous versions of AB 724 when she was in the Assembly.
We then mounted a campaign to get endorsements for the bill. We ended up with 19 endorsements from various organizations and even including one endorsement from the State Controller, John Chiang.
We also gathered information and facts that refuted each of the arguments against the bill and made sure that all the committee members got that information.
Next we sent out an E-mail alert and from that delivered 270 messages in support of the bill to the committee members. We also followed that with faxed copies of the messages which ended with the names and addresses of everyone who had E-mailed the committee. Each committee member got a personalized copy of that letter. I and the main sponsor of the bill (an attorney from Orange County) visited and spoke with the staff of each member of the committee.
Finally, we had our day for a rehearing on the bill June 15. The Chair (who opposed the bill) did not allow any testimony. Nevertheless she and the Vice Chair spent fifteen minutes explaining why they opposed the bill. Senators Leno and Hancock. Are not attorneys. The gist of the message of the Chair and Vice Chair was: "We are attorneys. We know what is best. Senators Leno and Hancock you should just do as we say." Both Hancock and Leno looked shaken by the tirade. However, in the end, they both voted for the bill. When Senator Walters also voted for the bill we had won. The bill was approved.
Throughout this process, and in talking with legislative staff about other bills, I hear that the mail we send to legislators has made us a very visible and effective force. Legislators and there staff are very aware of California Communities United Institute. That contributed a great deal to the amazing resurrection of AB 724.
For those of you who added your voice to this campaign, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
For those of you who have not been participating by responding to our alerts, I hope what I have told you will inspire you to do so in the future.
If any of you have friends who might like to join the work that we do together, please tell them about us. Encourage them to visit our web site at: http://www.calcomui.org to learn more about us. They can join by keying their E-mail address into the yellow sign up box on any page on the site.
Boyce Hinman
b.hinman@calcomui.org
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