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FL: Kissimmee to Discuss Domestic Partner Coverage for City Employees

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Kissimmee commissioners have a difficult road ahead when they consider whether to allow city employees to buy health insurance for their domestic partners, whether those partners are the same or opposite sex. The policy, if approved, would allow employees with domestic partners the same benefits their married counterparts already receive.

Commissioner Cheryl Grieb said the proposal is a health care and an equal rights issue, not one on whether gay people living together is right or wrong. We believe Grieb has the best interests of city employees at heart in this matter.

If such benefits were extended to employees’ domestic partners, there likely would be some added administrative costs – though minimal, we believe – as the city would have more paperwork to process. Plus, if the financial payout for claims were to rise dramatically due to the poor health of additional health plan members, costs for premiums could go up significantly for all involved. However, such a scenario is impossible to predict.

Full Story from Around Osceola
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Posted in debate, domestic partner benefits, fl, florida, kissimmee | No Responses »

NC: Asheville Votes 4-2 to Move Ahead on Domestic Partner Benefits

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

City Council took a key and controversial step Tuesday in extending benefits to the partners of gay municipal employees. The move followed pleas for and against the motion by gay and straight members of the Asheville Police Department, civic leaders, ministers and others. Passions ran high with police at one point removing a speaker from the council chambers, which was filled to capacity with 70 people.

The council voted 4-2 to have city staff report March 9 on how workers’ same-sex domestic partners could get the same benefits as heterosexual employees’ spouses, including health insurance, bereavement leave and prescription drug coverage. A majority of council members said they expect to vote for a final measure after the report.

Councilman Gordon Smith advanced the proposal, saying the change fit Asheville’s tradition of being a friendly and diverse city. “Tonight we can continue that tradition and provide equal compensation for equal work,” Smith said.

Full Story from the Citizen Times
Click here for gay marriage resources in North Carolina.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in asheville, city council, domestic partner benefits, nc, north carolina, vote | No Responses »

19 Sign Up for El Paso Domestic Partner Benefits

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

The cost of the city government’s domestic partner insurance program turned out to be much less than projected, but critics say they are not mollified. Just 19 city employees signed up so their unmarried heterosexual or gay partners can receive taxpayer-funded health insurance benefits.

The cost will be $42,000 this year, said Irene Morales, a city employee who oversees insurance programs. The city had forecast that 45 employees would be eligible and that the benefit program would cost taxpayers between $128,000 and $287,000. The overall city budget is $673.9 million, of which about $35 million each year is spent on health benefits for municipal employees and their families.

But to opponents of domestic partners benefits, the issue was never just about money. Tom Brown, pastor of Word of Life Church, said a group he has helped to organize will continue trying to overturn the new benefits.

Full Story from Insurance News Net
Click here for gay marriage resources in Texas.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in domestic partner benefits, el paso, texas, tx | No Responses »

FL: South Miami Gives City Employees Domestic Partner Benefits

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

When South Miami Mayor Horace Feliu and Commissioner Valerie Newman are on the same page, you know the issue transcends politics. At Tuesday’s meeting, most commissioners voted to allow city employees’ domestic partners, whether straight or gay, to enjoy the same benefits and rights an employee’s spouse would get.

Newman and Feliu co-sponsored the ordinance, with Vice Mayor Brian Beasley and Commissioner Lew Sellars voting in its favor. Commissioner Velma Palmer cast the lone vote against it. The benefits include hospital visitation rights and healthcare coverage.

Commissioners gave preliminary approval to the measure at their Dec. 8 meeting.

Full Story from the Miami Herald

Click here for gay marriage resources in Florida.

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Posted in city council, domestic partner benefits, fl, florida, south miami, vote | No Responses »

Cinemark to Offer Domestic Partner Benefits to Employees

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

A year after CEO Alan Stock’s contribution to Yes on 8 prompted gay-rights protests and boycotts, Cinemark Theatres is reportedly set to begin offering domestic partner benefits to employees.  A spokesman for Plano-based Cinemark, the world’s third-largest movie theater chain, didn’t return phone calls seeking comment by press time. But both the founder of the San Francisco Movie Bears and the president of the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce said this week they’ve heard from reliable sources within the company that the DP benefits will take effect Jan. 1.

The New York Times recently reported on its Bay Area Blog that the San Francisco Movie Bears, a gay group with about 800 members, is calling off its yearlong boycott of Cinemark in response to the company’s apparent decision to add DP benefits.

Movie Bears founder Dave Hayes, a former Dallas resident, told the Voice this week that the boycott has cost Cinemark at least $20,000 in ticket sales alone from the group’s weekly outings, which were moved to a nearby venue owned by AMC Theatres.

Full Story from the Dallas Voice: http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_12169.php

Click here for gay marriage resources.

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Posted in cinemark, domestic partner benefits, donation, employees, prop 8, proposition 8, theaters | No Responses »

US House committee Passes Domestic Partner Benefits Bill

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

After a sometimes contentious debate, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Oversight and Government Reform Committee passed a bill Nov. 18 that would expand domestic benefits to include same-sex partners, according to the Washington Post.
The 23-12 vote on H.R. 2517, the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009, broke down along party lines, with Democrats prevailing. Republicans said the expansion would undermine the traditional concept of marriage being between a man and a woman.

In a statement, lesbian U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said, “Today’s actions mark another significant step in our march toward LGBT equaliy. Our movement is gaining momentum around the country and Congress is following the will of the people.”

Full Story from the Windy City Times: http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=23567

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in bill, committee, domestic partner benefits, house of representatives, passes, us | No Responses »

Tallahassee Offers Benefits to Domestic Partners of City Employees

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

Unmarried couples of whatever sexual orientation are now eligible to receive family benefits in Tallahassee, Florida, according to an Oct. 29 article posted at Tallahassee.com.

The change in city policy will being benefits to city employees who are in domestic partnerships and commonlaw marriages. Another change extends anti-discrimination and anti-harassment city policies to cover sexual identity and sexual orientation.

The article quoted the city’s human relations manager, Travis Parsons, as saying that the change amounted to much the same thing as when employees added to their families by other means. “It’s no different than adding new spouses or new children to their program.”

Full Story from Edge Boston: http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=98413

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Florida.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in city employees, domestic partner benefits, fl, florida, tallahassee | No Responses »

University of Alabama May Offer Domestic Partner Benefits

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Now that the University of Alabama’s sister schools have decided to provide domestic partner benefits, many members of the UA community hope the Tuscaloosa campus will follow suit.

“Of course, with gay marriage not being legal in the state of Alabama, we’re looking at any kind of terminology that will make it possible on this campus,” said Ben Henson, president of Capstone Alliance, UA’s faculty and staff group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. “We’re just trying to get some chance at doing the same thing.”

Henson considers the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s implementation of domestic partnership benefits a positive step in securing rights for UA employees, and Capstone Alliance, along with other campus employee and student groups, is working to present to the administration a package of letters in support of the change.

Full Story from Tuscaloosa News: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20091022/NEWS/910219929/1007/NEWS02?Title=UA-weighs-benefits-for-partners

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Alabama.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in domestic partner benefits, Gay Marriage, university of alabama | No Responses »