Same-Sex Benefits for Federal Workers

According to a 2007 UCLA study, there are more than 34,000 federal employees living in committed same-sex partnerships.  When President Obama signed a memorandum in May providing for some benefits for the same-sex partners of federal workers, he said there would have to be a change in law in order to provide health and pension benefits.  He called for passage of new legislation.  In June, Rep. Tammy Baldwin introduced a bill (the Ending Health Disparities for LGBT Americans Act) that would ensure health care rights for all LGBT people.  It would be the first comprehensive approach to establish nondiscrimination policies for all federal health programs.  It would fund training for health care providers, extend Medicare benefits to domestic partners, create an office of LGBT Health within the Department of Health and Human Services, and fund local health centers that specialize in LGBT services.  (Sen. Joe Lieberman introduced the Senate version, which is known as the Domestic Partnership Benefits & Obligations Act.)

Yesterday, in a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry testified about the need for the federal government to extend full benefits to the domestic partners of gay and lesbian federal employees.  He said that prospective federal employees are looking at whether the federal government provides full same-sex benefits to its employees as a “litmus test for this generation.”

Committee Chair Joe Lieberman said that he expects his committee to vote on the bill by the end of December.