Last week, a bill to extend benefits and obligations to domestic partners of federal employees was introduced by U. S. Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtien (R-Fla.) and Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).
The House version, HR 3485, has 53 cosponsors, none of whom represent Pennsylvania. The bill was referred to the committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Education and the Workforce, House Administration and the Judiciary.
In the Senate, where the bill (S1910) was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, only the two sponsors are listed as backers.
The legislation would allow same-sex partners of federal employees to be eligible for retirement, life insurance, health, workers’ compensation and family and medical leave benefits to the same degree as heterosexual married employees.
Additionally, federal employees and their same-sex domestic partners would be subject to the same obligations as married heterosexual federal employees, including anti-nepotism rules and financial disclosure requirements.
To be eligible, the same-sex partners cannot be related by blood or married to anyone outside the partnership and must share responsibility for financial obligations. Partners must also file an affidavit attesting to their relationship.
In a statement, Baldwin said, “The federal government must set an example as an equal opportunity employer. If we are to treat all federal employees fairly and recruit the best and the brightest to serve in government, we need this legislation.”
An estimated 59 percent of Fortune 500 companies offer health benefits to domestic partners — up from 25 percent in 2000.
With some 2 million employees, the federal government is the largest employer in the country and extending partner benefits would be a sea change.
Since President Obama took office, numerous benefits and protections have been extended to LGBT federal employees and in the general population. Beyond the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” so that servicemembers can serve openly, other recent changes include extending equitable benefits to same-sex partners of Department of State foreign service employees, allowing for family and medical leave and barring discrimination based on gender identity or expression.
At present, federal hiring practices bar discrimination based on non-merit factors, and job announcements specifically list sexual orientation as a protected class.
Considering the current makeup of the Republican-controlled House and Democrat-controlled Senate, it’s unlikely that the domestic-partner bill — nor the Defense of Marriage repeal bill — will pass any time soon. But it’s important that voters let legislators know these issues are important to them and why, and that legislators both talk about and support them.