Senator Joseph Lieberman's federal gay
partner benefits bill was warmed greeted during a Thursday Senate
hearing.
The Domestic Partnership Benefits and
Obligations Act would extend benefits to the gay spouses of federal
employees.
In June, President Obama signed an
executive order that extends some benefits but the order changed
little; it offered federal employees sick leave to take care of a
sick partner or a non-biological child, but partners remain blocked
from access to primary health insurance and pension programs. At the
time, Obama mentioned the bill, saying Congress would need to fill in
the gaps.
In his opening remarks, Lieberman said
he believes in the bill because “it is the fair and right thing to
do” and “it makes sense – practical sense – for the federal
government as an employer.”
The hearing took place in the Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chaired by Lieberman, an
Independent from Connecticut.
Testifying before the committee were
Wisconsin Representative Tammy Baldwin, John Berry, the director of
the Office of Personnel Management and Dr. William H. Hendrix, a Dow
Chemical Company representative.
Hendrix, who heads the group Gays,
Lesbian and Allies at Dow (GLAD), said the bill would “help the US
government create a more respectful and inclusive work environment.”
Baldwin, who has introduced similar
legislation in the House, said the bill would shore up the
government's competitive advantage.
“As it stands, some federal employees
do not receive equal compensation and benefits for their equal
contributions. And the federal government is not keeping pace with
leading private-sector employers in recruiting and retaining top
talent.”
Baldwin also testified on the bill's
anti-fraud provisions, saying the “penalties for fraudulent claims
for domestic partners would be the same as the current penalties for
fraudulent claims of marriage.”
As a lesbian and federal worker, she
also offered personal testimony on the inequities of federal
benefits.
“[T]he difference between my health
benefits and yours, with regard to that benefit alone over the course
of my ten years in Congress is measured in five figures,” she
testified.
Berry, the highest-ranking openly gay
official in the Obama administration, testified on the cost of the
bill, saying it would be “negligible.”
Lieberman said the bill will likely
reach the Senate floor next year. But while testimony at Thursday's
hearing was friendly, the bill has only attracted 24 co-sponsors.