The original bill establishing domestic partnerships in the District of Columbia was known as the "Health Benefits Expansion Act". It was passed by the D.C. Council and signed into law by the Mayor of the District of Columbia The bill became law on June 11, 1992. Every year between 1992 and 2002, the Republican leadership of the U.S. Congress added a rider to the District of Columbia appropriations bill that prohibited the use of federal or local funds to implement the "Health Care Benefits Expansion Act". The law was finally implemented in 2002, a fiscal year, after Congress failed to add the rider to the appropriations bill.