Guv extends domestic partner benefits
Monday, May 8, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
From an Equality Illinois press release:
With no fanfare, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has extended domestic partner benefits to gay and lesbian employees of the State of Illinois. The action was hailed as a great step in protecting all Illinois families by the state’s leading gay rights organization. Illinois becomes the 13th State to offer such benefits.
“The extension of domestic partner benefits is not only the fair and just thing to do it also strengthens Illinois families,” said Rick Garcia, public policy director of Equality Illinois. “We commend the governor for making Illinois a beacon for fairness and equality.”
“Gay and lesbian employees are entitled to have equal benefits for equal work and our families need the same protections as other Illinoisans,” Garcia stated.
Such benefits are commonplace in the private sector with most Fortune 500 companies offering domestic partner benefits to their employees. In Illinois the County of Cook, the Village of Oak Park, and the cities of Chicago and Urbana are among the municipalities that offer such benefits to their gay employees.
In 2005 Illinois became the 15th state to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and only the fifth state to ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity. Other states that offer domestic partner benefits are California, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
“This is all about fairness and treating our families equally” Garcia said. “We commend the governor for looking out for all Illinois families including gay and lesbian one.”
And from the governor’s press office:
Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today filed an administrative order extending health benefits to same-sex domestic partners of all state
employees in the agencies directly within the Governor’s jurisdiction. Effective July 1st, 2006, same-sex domestic partners will be afforded the same health benefits as those married employees and their dependants receive. These benefits, to be extended to all state employees serving in agencies under the Governor’s control, include health insurance, dental and
vision coverage.
Today’s order means that merit compensation employees will join members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), who will also become eligible for these benefits on July 1st, 2006. Same-sex domestic partnership health benefits were extended to AFSCME members as part of the four-year contract negotiated between the Governorand the union in spring of 2004 and ratified by union members in July of 2004. AFSCME represents approximately 37,000 state government workers.
Protect Marriage Illinois is filing its signatures today:
olunteers from across the state will be in the capital today to hand-deliver 345,199 signatures to the Board of Elections–to place a referendum on the November ballot asking if the General Assembly should amend the Illinois constitution to declare that “marriage between a man and a woman is the only legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.”
(The PMI effort collected more than 421,000 signatures in total, but due to the state’s draconian rules regarding collecting notarized signatures, many petitions could not be submitted.)
If it survives a promised challenge by homosexual activists, the Protect Marriage Illinois (PMI) effort will be the first citizen advisory referendum to make it on the Illinois ballot in Illinois in 28 years. A total of 283,111 signatures of registered voters is required to get the referendum on the ballot, but PMI volunteers will deliver tens of thousands more than that.
YDD has more.
Rep. Larry McKeon has also now issued a release:
State Representative Larry McKeon (D-Chicago) extended his appreciation and strong support of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s executive order extending partner and family benefits, including bereavement and healthcare benefits, to all state of Illinois Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered (GLBT) employees. This follows the leadership of collective bargaining by major unions representing state workers.
“Many people have worked for this for many years. I am proud of Governor Blagojevich for making this happen,” said Rep. Larry McKeon (D-Chicago), House sponsor of the amendment to the Illinois Human Rights Act.
- Guess it makes sense... - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 2:48 pm:
Rezko has Panda Express
G-Rod has Pander Express
- steve schnorf - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 3:04 pm:
I don’t have any problem with domestic partner benefits., I think it is the future so all of you who are going to go nuts over it should just get used to it.
My problem is with being able to find money for things like this but not being able to find money for cost of living increases for non-union staff for the fourth year in a row. That has never happened in at least the last 40 years.
I understand that the state’s financial situation continues to be difficult. If all employees were going without raises, that would be hard for people, but at least equitable. To single out the 20% who are non-union four years in a row?
Yet on the other hand some say the state is pretty much out of the financial difficulties of four years ago, with enough money now for new and expanded programs. If that’s true, then it isn’t money, so what do those people say is the reason for no increases for merit comp? I think that has the potential to be a sticky question.
- Coloradem - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 3:37 pm:
Congrats Gov. Blagojevich! But you have been governor for 4 years….what took you so long?
- Johnny - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 4:48 pm:
I am a state employee, and not married.
Can I get benefits for my mom who is sick?
If not, can I use my non-used same sex benefits on someone who is?
There is no reason I should be discriminated against because I do not have a partner.
- B Hicks - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 4:49 pm:
Any comment from the Topinka/Birkett camp?
- Niles Township - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 4:54 pm:
Perhaps some cover from those in the GLBT community still upset over the hate crimes commission debacle that won’t go away.
- Levois - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 5:01 pm:
I don’t have a problem with it, but this is just another ploy.
- Just the Facts - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 5:25 pm:
It’s the right thing to do. Of course, I can’t help thinking that this was what Blago has been holding over the head of Rick Garcia in exchange for Garcia’s silence with respect to the flap about the Farrakhan supporter on the Commission . . .
- Carl Nyberg - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 5:25 pm:
Johnny, how does your logic not extend to removing benefits for spouses and children? Johnny, why not implement a single-payer universal health care program and make the issue go away completely?
- Bill Baar - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 5:47 pm:
When benefits were extended maybe ten years ago for domestic partners of Village employees in Oak Park, the person who really needed the benefits was a woman with a disabled parent or adult child at home. (I can’t remember which). The Village denied her health coverage for that partner but gave it to same sex partners for whom it was largely symbolic since partners had coverage through their own jobs.
The lefts response was we should have national health insurance… so we had a symbolic gesture granting insurance to those who had, and thumber our nose at the person who really needed it because we would redifine marriage for some and not others….
- STATE UNION WORKER - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 5:59 pm:
Believe me this was NOT Rod’s idea. AFSCME fought for this for it’s members and it takes effect July 1,2006. Rod is just taking credit for this and using this for his own gain. The state didn’t ask for this during contract talks the Union did. And as far as straight unmarried people complaining the boyfriends and girlfriends don’t get this benefit I say GET MARRIED we can’t. We would love to have the pension benefits for our partners and tax credits you married people get but we can’t. So stop complaining your still way ahead.
- Anon - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 7:03 pm:
I’d like to expand the schnorf comment above about merit comp and say that they also started paying their 4% pension pickup and some also lost their vacation rollover. All this while doing more work with less staff.
- Anon. - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 7:22 pm:
I don’t agree with domestic partner benefits. In my opinion, anyone not married should not have the benefit.
My state employed fiance was denied use of 2 hours of Family Sick Leave to take my son to a doctor’s appointment. He has raised my son for the past 10 years, finacially and emotionally supported him, potty trained him, etc. Yet, his request for Family Sick Leave was denied because we were not married.
- STATE UNION WORKER - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 9:13 pm:
Anon, pick a side of the fence. You don’t agree with domestic partner benefits but you complain your fiance couldn’t take advantage of our contract language for “family” sick time? Has he been a finace for 10 years? Get married and you will have all the rights I can’t enjoy.
- PatriotUSA - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 9:13 pm:
Gov. Rod had no choice. His sister-in-law is a confirmed and outed lesbian. No problem with me, however, to implement this with costs to the State and no Merit Comp employee raise instead shouts to the world that this Gov. would rather suck up to his wife and sister-in-law than do the right thing and give the State MC emloyees a raise that they deserve 3 times over.
- Anonymous - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 9:26 pm:
Domestic partner’s recieving health coverage is a part of the “master contract” with AFSCME.
- Anon. - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 9:40 pm:
State Union Worker - I did pick a side of the fence. The message was - not married, no benefits. We did get married - and now he can use sick family leave time. The end.
- STATE UNION WORKER - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 9:56 pm:
Anon, my point IS I also have a child with a domestic partner. And for the past 25 years I did not qualify for ANY benefits enjoyed by married state workers. You at any time could of had these benefits.
- domestic pardoner - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 10:39 pm:
“AFSCME fought for this for it’s members and it takes effect July 1,2006.”, ” The state didn’t ask for this during contract talks the Union did.”
Slight correction - the union _leadership_ asked for this. To most rank and file AFSCME members, it was a surprise that came out a day or 2 before they were to vote on the contract.
I guarantee if there had been a ‘line item’ veto most (downstate, at least) union members would have scratched that line out.
- Gregor - Monday, May 8, 06 @ 10:54 pm:
The person to thank is Pate Phillip, for leaving the senate and ending his obstructionist blockage of these kinds of bills. The House and Senate Dems have pushed for these things for many years, only to get blocked by that guy. Rod is the last person able to take credit for it: you can see by the left-handed way he announced it that he really doesn’t take a stand for it beyond the immediate poll boost it might give him in areas where he’s not polling well. He Kowtows to the conservatives with the marriage comment, yet tries to take credit for the domestic partners improvement.
Don’t you ever get dizzy, spinning around so much, Rod?
- Cassandra - Tuesday, May 9, 06 @ 6:53 am:
So, this is the reward to the gay community for not jumping off the Hate Commission….? As I recall Rick Garcia was rather fulsomely pro-Blago in that flap.
- Tessa - Tuesday, May 9, 06 @ 7:26 am:
When you get right down to the nitty gritty, there’s not a whole lot of benefit there. Talk to the person at the work site for the state and ask what kind of real benefit there is for the domestic partner, and find out what kind of qualifications have to be met and what benefit there is. It’s an eye opener. Not much to rave about or raise a stink about, as far as I could see.
And anon 7:22 p.m. - if your then fiance’ was financial and emotional supportive of your son he had rights to take him to the doctor, if they lived under the same roof.
And yes, most union negotiators were taken by surprise by this, but it was in there the entire time negotiations were going on. It just didn’t get brought up til near the end. Just another thing the Gov can grab hold of and say he did.
- Mad As Hell - Tuesday, May 9, 06 @ 12:43 pm:
What happened to the backbone of our legislators that they didn’t stand up for the MC employees of this state? Sen. Meeks said, “It’s unfair to ask a man to come to work every day and then not get a pay raise.” But what did he do to see that the men and women who come to work everyday, and have for the past four years, get a pay raise? What did anyone do? It’s a joke that Blowgoyavich promises to give his automatic raise (which everyone knows they will find money to fund come November) away. At least it’s his money to give away and he’ll reap the tax benefits for doing so. What a crock! I’d like to make so much money that I could afford to give my raise away, too. Oh, wait, what raise!!!