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PA: Allentown Votes to Extend Domestic Partner Benefits to Many City Employees

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Allentown City CouncilThe City Council of Allentown, Pa. voted Wednesday to extend medical benefits to the same-sex partners of city employees, not including firefighters and police officers.

According to the Morning Call, the measure will provide health benefits to eligible same-sex partners of some city employees active and retired. Employees will also be able to take time off work when their partner is hospitalized or dies.

The police and fire unions have yet to agree to the changes, but according to the Morning Call, city officials are optimistic that the unions will agree.

Full Story from the Advocate

Click here for gay marriage resources in Pennsylvania.

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.

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PA: Allentown Debates Adding Health Benefits for Partners of Gay Employees

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

Allentown, PAIf you’ve ever listened to the soundtrack of 42nd Street, or picked up a copy of Billy Joel’s greatest hits, you’ve heard of Allentown, Pennsylvania. But beyond just the pop culture lore, the city is gaining prominence as growth from nearby Philadelphia continues to move in its direction.

I have a particular bone to pick with Allentown, as toward the end of the 1990s, the city was in a competition with my hometown (Erie, Pennsylvania) for third most populous city in Pennsylvania. Allentown won, and hasn’t looked back.

But here’s one way that Allentown can earn back some good graces, not only from me but from LGBT residents throughout Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley — the city is set to consider offering medical benefits to partners of gay municipal employees. If it adopts the measure, Allentown will become another example of local advances for LGBT equality in the Keystone State, and the first city to offer such benefits in the region.

Full Story from Change.org

Click here for gay marriage resources in Pennsylvania.

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.

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PA: Allentown Considering Benefits for Partners of Gay/Lesbian Employees

Sunday, October 10th, 2010

Allentown may soon be the second city in the state to offer health benefits to partners of gay employees. A bill extending the employee benefits to same-sex couples was expected to be introduced last Wednesday, but was pulled at the last minute after the city’s solicitor’s office expressed some concerns over language in the bill.

City Council has declined to release the legal opinion, citing lawyer-client privilege. However, council President Michael D’Amore, a sponsor of the bill, said the legal concerns are technical, and he expects to introduce the bill as early as the next meeting, Oct. 20. Currently, only employees and their dependents – spouses and children – can be enrolled in the city’s self-insured health benefit program.

One of the issues raised by the solicitor’s office, says city Councilwoman Jeanette Eichenwald, is language in the bill that could trigger lawsuits from heterosexual employees who are unmarried but in committed relationships. These employees, like gay employees, cannot add their partners to their health plans, Eichenwald said.

Full Story from The Morning Call

Click here for gay marriage resources in Pennsylvania.

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.

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