98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
SB0110

 

Introduced 1/23/2013, by Sen. Heather A. Steans

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
See Index

    Creates the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act. Contains provisions regarding legislative purpose, rules of construction, and severability. Provides that: all laws of this State applicable to marriage apply equally to marriages of same-sex and different-sex couples and their children; parties to a marriage and their children, regardless of whether the marriage is of a same-sex or different-sex couple, have the same benefits, protections, and responsibilities under law; parties to a marriage are included in any definition or use of terms such as "spouse", "family", "immediate family", "dependent", "next of kin", "wife", "husband", "bride", "groom", "wedlock", and other terms that refer to or denote the spousal relationship, as those terms are used throughout the law, regardless of whether the parties to a marriage are of the same sex or different sexes; and, to the extent that laws of this State adopt, refer to, or rely upon provisions of federal law as applicable to this State, parties to a marriage of the same sex and their children shall be treated under the laws of this State as if federal law recognized the marriages of same-sex couples in the same manner as the laws of this State. Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Makes changes concerning: parties who may marry; solemnization; use of a parish hall or other religious facility for solemnization or celebration of a marriage; prohibited marriages; and jurisdiction. Amends the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act to make changes and additions regarding recognition of marriages and to authorize the voluntary conversion of a civil union to a marriage under specified circumstances. Contains severability provisions. Effective 30 days after becoming law.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act.
 
6    Section 5. Purposes; rules of construction. This Act shall
7be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying
8purpose, which is to provide same-sex and different-sex couples
9and their children equal access to the status, benefits,
10protections, rights, and responsibilities of civil marriage.
 
11    Section 10. Equal access to marriage.
12    (a) All laws of this State applicable to marriage, whether
13they derive from statute, administrative or court rule, policy,
14common law, or any other source of civil or criminal law, shall
15apply equally to marriages of same-sex and different-sex
16couples and their children.
17     (b) Parties to a marriage and their children, regardless
18of whether the marriage consists of a same-sex or different-sex
19couple, shall have all the same benefits, protections, and
20responsibilities under law, whether they derive from statute,
21administrative or court rule, policy, common law, or any other
22source of civil or criminal law.

 

 

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1    (c) Parties to a marriage shall be included in any
2definition or use of terms such as "spouse", "family",
3"immediate family", "dependent", "next of kin", "wife",
4"husband", "bride", "groom", "wedlock", and other terms that
5refer to or denote the spousal relationship, as those terms are
6used throughout the law, regardless of whether the parties to a
7marriage are of the same sex or different sexes.
8    (d) To the extent the law of this State adopts, refers to,
9or relies upon provisions of federal law as applicable to this
10State, parties to a marriage of the same sex and their children
11shall be treated under the law of this State as if federal law
12recognizes the marriages of same-sex couples in the same manner
13as the law of this State.
 
14    Section 15. Severability. If any part of this Act or its
15application to any person or circumstance is adjudged invalid,
16such adjudication or application shall not affect the validity
17of this Act as a whole or of any other part.
 
18    Section 905. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of
19Marriage Act is amended by changing Sections 201, 209, and 212
20and by adding Section 220 as follows:
 
21    (750 ILCS 5/201)  (from Ch. 40, par. 201)
22    Sec. 201. Formalities.) A marriage between 2 persons a man
23and a woman licensed, solemnized and registered as provided in

 

 

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1this Act is valid in this State.
2(Source: P.A. 80-923.)
 
3    (750 ILCS 5/209)  (from Ch. 40, par. 209)
4    Sec. 209. Solemnization and Registration.)
5    (a) A marriage may be solemnized by a judge of a court of
6record, by a retired judge of a court of record, unless the
7retired judge was removed from office by the Judicial Inquiry
8Board, except that a retired judge shall not receive any
9compensation from the State, a county or any unit of local
10government in return for the solemnization of a marriage and
11there shall be no effect upon any pension benefits conferred by
12the Judges Retirement System of Illinois, by a judge of the
13Court of Claims, by a county clerk in counties having 2,000,000
14or more inhabitants, by a public official whose powers include
15solemnization of marriages, or in accordance with the
16prescriptions of any religious denomination, Indian Nation or
17Tribe or Native Group, provided that when such prescriptions
18require an officiant, the officiant be in good standing with
19his or her religious denomination, Indian Nation or Tribe or
20Native Group. Either the person solemnizing the marriage, or,
21if no individual acting alone solemnized the marriage, both
22parties to the marriage, shall complete the marriage
23certificate form and forward it to the county clerk within 10
24days after such marriage is solemnized.
25    (a-5) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require any

 

 

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1religious denomination or Indian Nation or Tribe or Native
2Group, or any minister, clergy, or officiant acting as a
3representative of a religious denomination or Indian Nation or
4Tribe or Native Group, to solemnize any marriage. Instead, any
5religious denomination or Indian Nation or Tribe or Native
6Group, or any minister, clergy, or officiant acting as a
7representative of a religious denomination or Indian Nation or
8Tribe or Native Group is free to choose which marriages it will
9solemnize. No refusal by a religious denomination or Indian
10Nation or Tribe or Native Group, or any minister, clergy, or
11officiant acting as a representative of a religious
12denomination or Indian Nation or Tribe or Native Group to
13solemnize any marriage under this Act shall create or be the
14basis for any civil, administrative, or criminal penalty,
15claim, or cause of action.
16    (a-10)(1) For purposes of this subsection (a-10),
17"religious organization" is limited to churches, mosques,
18synagogues, temples, nondenominational ministries,
19interdenominational and ecumenical organizations, mission
20organizations, and other faith-based associations and
21societies whose principal purpose is the study, practice, or
22advancement of religion.
23    (2) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require a
24religious organization as defined in paragraph (1) of this
25subsection (a-10) to make available a parish hall or other
26religious facility on the premises of a church, mosque,

 

 

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1synagogue, temple, or other house of worship for solemnization
2or celebration of a marriage that is in violation of the
3religious organization's religious beliefs, provided that:
4        (A) the religious facility is primarily used by members
5    of the parish or congregation for worship and other
6    religious purposes;
7        (B) for solemnization and celebration of marriages,
8    the religious organization generally restricts use of the
9    religious facility to its members and opens the facility
10    only occasionally to non-members on an unpaid basis; and
11        (C) the religious organization does not make the
12    religious facility available to the general public for
13    rental or use for which a rental fee or other compensation
14    is required or for which public funding or other public
15    benefit is received.
16    (3) Nothing in this Section shall be interpreted to exempt
17the owner or operator of any religious facility from the
18requirements of the Illinois Human Rights Act if the religious
19facility is a place of public accommodation as defined in
20Section 5-101 of the Illinois Human Rights Act.
21    (4) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent a
22religious organization as defined in paragraph (1) of this
23subsection (a-10) from limiting employment to individuals of
24the same religious faith or from making internal personnel
25decisions concerning the terms and conditions of employment for
26positions (A) that require a significant degree of religious

 

 

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1training and (B) whose primary duties are ministerial in
2nature, such as conducting worship services or providing
3religious instruction.
4    (b) The solemnization of the marriage is not invalidated by
5the fact that the person solemnizing the marriage was not
6legally qualified to solemnize it, if either party to the
7marriage believed him or her to be so qualified or by the fact
8that the marriage was inadvertently solemnized in a county in
9Illinois other than the county where the license was issued.
10(Source: P.A. 95-775, eff. 1-1-09.)
 
11    (750 ILCS 5/212)  (from Ch. 40, par. 212)
12    Sec. 212. Prohibited Marriages.
13    (a) The following marriages are prohibited:
14        (1) a marriage entered into prior to the dissolution of
15    an earlier marriage of one of the parties;
16        (2) a marriage between an ancestor and a descendant or
17    between siblings a brother and a sister, whether the
18    relationship is by the half or the whole blood or by
19    adoption;
20        (3) a marriage between an uncle and a niece, between an
21    uncle and a nephew, or between an aunt and a nephew, or
22    between an aunt and a niece, whether the relationship is by
23    the half or the whole blood;
24        (4) a marriage between cousins of the first degree;
25    however, a marriage between first cousins is not prohibited

 

 

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1    if:
2            (i) both parties are 50 years of age or older; or
3            (ii) either party, at the time of application for a
4        marriage license, presents for filing with the county
5        clerk of the county in which the marriage is to be
6        solemnized, a certificate signed by a licensed
7        physician stating that the party to the proposed
8        marriage is permanently and irreversibly sterile;
9        (5) (blank). a marriage between 2 individuals of the
10    same sex.
11    (b) Parties to a marriage prohibited under subsection (a)
12of this Section who cohabit after removal of the impediment are
13lawfully married as of the date of the removal of the
14impediment.
15    (c) Children born or adopted of a prohibited or common law
16marriage are the lawful children of the parties.
17(Source: P.A. 94-229, eff. 1-1-06.)
 
18    (750 ILCS 5/220 new)
19    Sec. 220. Consent to jurisdiction. Members of a same-sex
20couple who enter into a marriage in this State consent to the
21jurisdiction of the courts of this State for the purpose of any
22action relating to the marriage, even if one or both parties
23cease to reside in this State. A court shall enter a judgment
24of dissolution of marriage if at the time the action is
25commenced, it meets the grounds for dissolution of marriage set

 

 

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1forth in this Act.
 
2    (750 ILCS 5/213.1 rep.)
3    Section 910. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of
4Marriage Act is amended by repealing Section 213.1.
 
5    Section 915. The Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and
6Civil Union Act is amended by changing Section 60 and by adding
7Section 65 as follows:
 
8    (750 ILCS 75/60)
9    Sec. 60. Respect for marriages and civil unions entered
10into in other jurisdictions Reciprocity. A marriage between
11persons of the same sex, a civil union, or a substantially
12similar legal relationship other than common law marriage,
13legally entered into in another jurisdiction, shall be
14recognized in Illinois as a civil union. A marriage, whether of
15the same sex or different sexes and providing that it is not a
16common law marriage, legally entered into in another
17jurisdiction, shall be recognized in this State as a marriage
18in accordance with the provisions of the Illinois Marriage and
19Dissolution of Marriage Act, except that Section 216 of the
20Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act shall not
21apply to marriages of same-sex couples validly entered into in
22another jurisdiction.
23(Source: P.A. 96-1513, eff. 6-1-11.)
 

 

 

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1    (750 ILCS 75/65 new)
2    Sec. 65. Voluntary conversion of civil union to marriage.
3    (a) Parties to a civil union may apply for and receive a
4marriage license and have the marriage solemnized and
5registered under Section 209 of the Illinois Marriage and
6Dissolution of Marriage Act, provided the parties are otherwise
7eligible to marry and the parties to the marriage are the same
8as the parties to the civil union. The fee for application for
9a marriage license shall be waived in such circumstances.
10    (b) For a period of one year following the effective date
11of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, parties to
12a civil union may have their civil union legally designated and
13recorded as a marriage, deemed effective on the date of
14solemnization of the civil union, without payment of any fee,
15provided the parties' civil union has not been dissolved and
16there is no pending proceeding to dissolve the civil union.
17Upon application to a county clerk, the parties shall be issued
18a marriage certificate. The parties' signatures on the marriage
19certificate and return of the signed certificate for recording
20shall be sufficient to convert the civil union into a marriage.
21The county clerk shall notify the Department of Public Health
22within 45 days by furnishing a copy of the certificate to the
23Department of Public Health.
24    (c) When parties to a civil union have married, or when
25their civil union has been converted to a marriage under this

 

 

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1Section, the parties, as of the date stated on the marriage
2certificate, shall no longer be considered in a civil union,
3but rather shall be in a legal marriage.
 
4    Section 997. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
5severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
6    Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect 30 days
7after becoming law.

 

 

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1 INDEX
2 Statutes amended in order of appearance
3    New Act
4    750 ILCS 5/201from Ch. 40, par. 201
5    750 ILCS 5/209from Ch. 40, par. 209
6    750 ILCS 5/212from Ch. 40, par. 212
7    750 ILCS 5/220 new
8    750 ILCS 5/213.1 rep.
9    750 ILCS 75/60
10    750 ILCS 75/65 new