With all of the other details to keep track of while planning a wedding, the last piece you’d want to go wrong would be the legal checkbox that is picking up your marriage license.
But for couples marrying in D.C. in the near future, that checkbox got harder to tick the moment the federal government shut down on Oct. 1. Thankfully, a piece of emergency D.C. legislation is now in place to fix the problem — and it’s already helped 27 betrothed couples.
The Let Our Vows Endure (LOVE) Act gives D.C.’s mayor the authority to issue marriage licenses and designate temporary marriage officiants. Normally, those powers lie with the federally-funded Superior Court of the District of Columbia, which is not deemed an essential service during government shutdowns.
It’s not the first time the DC Council has enacted legislation of this kind during a shutdown. During the 2018-2019 shutdown, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the LOVE Act on Jan. 11, 2019, after the shutdown had prevented couples from getting marriage licenses for weeks.
This time around, the LOVE Act was enacted as an emergency measure at the DC Council Legislative meeting on Oct. 7, just one week into the 2025 shutdown, the Council said. Bowser signed the bill into law on Oct. 9, and the emergency legislation is in effect for 90 days.
On the first day of the LOVE Act being in effect, the mayor’s office told News4’s Mark Segraves, 27 couples applied for marriage licenses through the Office of the Secretary of the District. Five officiants were also issued licenses to perform ceremonies.
The Council also, on Oct. 7, took the first of two necessary votes on a longer-term, but still temporary measure version of the LOVE Act, which would be in effect for 225 days if passed.
The next legislative meeting is Oct. 21.
If you or someone you know needs to get their marriage license in order soon, and is concerned about the effects of the shutdown, you can learn what to do at the Office of the Secretary’s Marriage Bureau webpage, which is here.
from Local – NBC4 Washington https://ift.tt/ENcYIVk
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