RECALLING MR. POPULARITY
Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, in the final year of her final term, is trying one last time to add California to the list of states that provides those applying for marriage licenses with a fact sheet spelling out the rights and responsibilities of the civil contract they are about to enter into.
Like the writing of wills, it's a subject that makes many people uncomfortable. Although there are important things for couples to know regardless of how well their marriage turns out (information, for example, that will help them in long-term financial planning), most of the information they need to be aware of concerns those responsibilities that apply only in the event their marriage is later dissolved.
On Monday, Jackson was able to win Assembly passage of her marriage fact sheet bill on a 43-30 vote. The idea was assailed by Republicans, who found an unlikely ally to cite in their opposition. They quoted from the governor's veto message when Jackson's most recent attempt was rejected in 2000: "I believe it is presumtuous and in very bad taste to require the County Clerk, on the eve of someone's marriage, to offer a couple a document detailing all of the problems and costs associated with the dissoultion of marriage."
With tongue in cheek, Jackson acknowledged it was going to be difficult to counter that argument. "I realize," she said, "that Gov. Davis is very popular in this body."
