Bill
B 26-0393
Temporarily amends DC vow/marriage law for a limited period, altering requirements for licenses and ceremonies and impacting couples, officiants, and vital-records offices.
Status and identifiers
- Bill number: B 26-0393
- Act number (enacted): A26-0194
- Published: District of Columbia Register, Vol. 72, p. 012877 (published 2025-11-21)
- Introduced: October 6, 2025 by Councilmember Christina Henderson (primary sponsor)
- Final status: Signed by the Mayor and enacted (signed 2025-11-10); transmitted to Congress 2025-11-17
What is known
- The publicly available docket and legislative actions show the bill moved from introduction to final enactment in the D.C. Council and was signed by the Mayor and published in the D.C. Register. The enacted measure is identified as Act A26-0194.
- The full text of the act is not included in the materials you provided. The title — Let Our Vows Endure Temporary Amendment Act of 2025 — indicates the act is a temporary amendment to existing D.C. law concerning vows (most likely related to marriage, solemnization, domestic partnerships, or recognition of marital status), but the precise statutory sections amended and the specific policy changes cannot be determined from title alone.
Legislative timeline (key dates)
- 2025-10-06: Bill introduced by Councilmember Henderson
- 2025-10-07: First reading; retained by the Council
- 2025-10-21: Final reading by the Council
- 2025-10-28: Transmitted to the Mayor (response due Nov 12, 2025)
- 2025-11-10: Returned from Mayor and signed (Act A26-0194)
- 2025-11-17: Transmitted to Congress for congressional review
- 2025-11-21: Published in the D.C. Register (Vol. 72, p. 012877)
Probable scope and impact (caveats)
- Because the bill is labeled a "Temporary Amendment," it likely (but not certainly) modifies existing D.C. statutory language for a limited period or imposes an interim procedural change. Typical temporary amendment acts in D.C. either:
- extend or modify administrative deadlines or emergency procedures, or
- temporarily adjust statutory requirements (for example, for licensing, certification, or record-keeping) while a permanent solution is developed.
- Potentially affected parties (dependent on final text) could include couples seeking marriage licenses or solemnization, the Department of Health or Vital Records Division, officiants, courts, and related government registries. The exact fiscal or operational impacts require the act’s text and any included fiscal note.
Next steps to obtain full details
- Retrieve the full text of Act A26-0194 in the D.C. Register (Vol. 72, p. 012877) or view the act on the D.C. Council website:
- D.C. Register: https://www.dcregister.gov
- D.C. Council legislation search: https://www.dccouncil.gov (search by bill or act number)
- Review the act’s language for:
- the statutory sections amended,
- the duration/expiration clause (if temporary),
- an effective date and any retroactivity, and
- the fiscal impact statement (if available).
- Monitor the congressional review period (the act was transmitted on 2025-11-17) to confirm final effective timing if congressional review provisions apply.
If you want, I can retrieve and summarize the act’s full text (Act A26-0194) and list the exact statutory changes and impacted code sections once you provide the act text or allow me to fetch it.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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