Domestic Partnership Benefits Bill Advances in House
Thursday, November 19, 2009(National Federation of Federal Employees)
The House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee Wednesday
passed the Domestic Partnership Benefits and
Obligations Act, H.R. 2517, a bill that would
extend spousal benefits to same-sex partners of
federal employees.
Under
the legislation, same-sex domestic partners
living together in committed relationships
would be eligible for health coverage,
long-term care, Family and Medical Leave, and
federal retirement benefits, among others. By
extension, partners would also be subject to
the same responsibilities that apply to the
spouses of federal employees, such as
anti-nepotism rules and financial disclosure
requirements.
Under
current law, domestic partners of federal
employees are not entitled to any of the
aforementioned benefits. Since benefits comprise a great deal of
federal employee compensation, this disparity
effectively denies federal employees with
domestic partners equal pay for equal
work.
“Extending these benefits
to domestic partners of federal workers is
fundamentally an issue of equality,” said NFFE
National President William R. Dougan in a
letter to committee Chairman Edolphus Towns
(D-MD). “Gay and lesbian employees work just as
long and just as hard as their heterosexual
counterparts and they deserve to be compensated
as such.”
The bill, approved by the
full committee with a 23-12 vote, will now move
on to be considered by the full House of
Representatives. A companion bill, S. 1102, is
currently under review by the Senate Committee
on Homeland Security and Government Affairs.
“This legislation has a
very good chance of being enacted,” said NFFE
Legislative Director Randy Erwin, noting the
widespread support of the bill throughout
Washington. “The issue has the strong support
of the Obama Administration and many in
Congress. In fact, OPM Director John
Berry has taken a personal interest in this
bill and is championing the Administration’s
push for the legislation.”