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Update: Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin Statement onthe Presidential Memorandum on Extension of Benefits to
same-gender Domestic Partners of Federal Employees,
“I am encouraged to see President Obama take yet another
step toward full equality for LGBT Americans. Yesterday’s
memorandum requiring executive agencies to extend to the
same-gender domestic partners of federal employees a
number of meaningful benefits will make a real difference
in people’s lives. I was also pleased to see the President call
yet again for swift passage of my legislation, the Domestic
Partners Benefits & Obligations Act of 2009; & am heartened
by Speaker Pelosi’s commitment to advance that legislation
in the House. It is high time we extend to the same-gender
domestic partners of federal employees all of the benefits
currently enjoyed by the opposite-sex spouses of federal
employees.” Updates to Come...:)
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2 comments:
All employees should be treated equally and without discrimination, whether they are straight or LGBT and this is certainly a positive step in that direction. The limitations of these new benefits however serve as a glaring reminder that the Defense of Marriage Act ultimately stands in the way of providing true equality to LGBT Americans. We welcome the President’s renewed call to pass the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act and call on Congress to pass it swiftly. When a majority of the Fortune 500 offer equal benefits, it should be a no-brainer that the federal government catch up.
Joe Solmonese, HRC President
Statement by the President on the Extension of Benefits to Same-Sex Domestic Partners of Federal Employees
“Last year, I issued a Presidential Memorandum that instructed the Office of Personnel Management and the Secretary of State to extend certain available benefits they had identified to gay & lesbian federal employees and their families under their respective jurisdictions. Among those benefits were long-term care insurance and expanded sick leave for civil service employees and medical care abroad, eligibility for employment at posts, cost-of-living adjustments abroad and medical evacuation for domestic partners of foreign service members. In that same Memorandum, I called upon the federal agencies to undertake a comprehensive review and to identify any additional benefits that could be extended to the same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees under existing law. That process has now concluded, and I am proud to announce that earlier today, I signed a Memorandum that requires Executive agencies to take immediate action to extend to the same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees a number of meaningful benefits, from family assistance services to hardship transfers to relocation expenses. It also requires agencies that extend any new benefits to employees’ opposite-sex spouses to make those benefits available on equal terms to employees’ same-sex domestic partners to the extent permitted by law.
While this Memorandum is an important step on the path to equality, my Administration continues to be prevented by existing Federal law from providing same-sex domestic partners with the full range of benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples. That is why, today, I renew my call for swift passage of an important piece of legislation pending in both Houses of Congress—the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act. This legislation, championed by Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, would extend to the same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees the full range of benefits currently enjoyed by Federal employees’ opposite-sex spouses. I look forward to signing it into law.”
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