Democrats pass fee hike on marriage licenses

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As a dress rehearsal for the upcoming budget battle over increasing taxes, state senators clashed Thursday over a fee increase on marriage licenses, and a Democratic proposal to boost the costs was approved.

A divided Senate approved a measure allowing counties to increase the portion of license fees dedicated to paying for domestic violence shelters by $10, to $33, to finance programs that have been hit hard in the last year by state budget cuts.

Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) said his measure, which will raise up to $5 million in extra money each year, is critical at a time when four domestic violence shelters have closed this year. ‘Women are out in the streets with their children,’ Yee said.

Republican lawmakers voted against SB 662 on the grounds that people pay the fee for the service of processing their wedding paperwork, not to finance programs that are not directly related.

‘There needs to be a connection between the fee and the type of service provided,’ said Sen. Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach). Yee contended that there is a connection, that many domestic violence victims are the result of marriages, licensed by the government, that ‘went sour.’

The Senate voted 21-13, a bare majority, to send the bill to the governor.

--Patrick McGreevy