A Colorado bill which seeks to allow
married gay couples to file joint state tax returns cleared the
Colorado House on Monday.
Colorado last year approved a law
recognizing gay couples with civil unions.
The marriages of gay couples celebrated
in the District of Columbia or one of the 17 states where it is legal
are fully recognized by the federal government pursuant to a 2013
Supreme Court ruling knocking down a key provision of the Defense of
Marriage Act (DOMA).
“We do have a huge number of couples
who are legally married in a state that recognizes their relationship
but now live in Colorado and are legally married in the eyes of the
federal government but not yet in the eyes of Colorado,” Mindy
Barton, legal director for the GLBT Center of Denver, told NPR
affiliate KUNC.
Having already cleared the Senate, the
measure now heads to the desk of Governor John Hickenlooper, a
Democrat.
(Related: Nine
couples challenge Colorado's gay marriage ban.)