Lehigh County is on the cusp of joining the handful of Pennsylvania municipalities that offer same-sex spouses of government employees benefits equal to those of heterosexual married couples.
The latest turn in the debate came last week when Lehigh County Executive Matt Croslis overturned an earlier action by Republican county commissioners that stripped the benefits proposal from Croslis’ county budget.
It would take a vote by six of the nine commissioners to override Croslis’ veto, which does not appear likely, as the original benefits proposal was rejected by a 5-4 vote.
The board will meet again Nov. 13.
Croslis first proposed the benefits plan earlier this fall. It was included in the 2014 budget as a $219,000 line item, although Croslis told PGN he expects the actual cost for the program to be much lower.
The measure would mandate that the county provide the same benefits to married same-sex partners of county employees that it currently provides to married opposite-sex partners. Lehigh County has approximately 2,000 employees.
Along with vetoing the amendment stripping the benefits proposal, Croslis also vetoed three other amendments, which would have cut staff from the county court and technology department and funding for a regional crime center.
Currently, Philadelphia, Allentown, Easton, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and State College offer benefits to same-sex partners of employees, although those programs extend to non-married same-sex domestic partners; the proposed Lehigh County measure would be limited to same-sex couples married in jurisdictions that sanction same-sex marriage.