As we mentioned earlier today, Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT) held a hearing this morning on S. 1102, the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act (DPBO), which would extend equal employment benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. An archived webcast of the hearing is now available.
The hearing featured testimony from three expert witnesses: Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); John Berry, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM); and Dr. William H. Hendrix, III, a biology team leader at The Dow Chemical Company and chair of the Company’s Gays, Lesbians, and Allies at Dow (GLAD) network. All three witnesses’ testimony has been posted on the committee’s website. Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese also submitted written testimony [pdf] for the record.
All three witnesses made a compelling case for the positive impact that DPBO would have on the everyday lives of LGBT Americans. The benefits provided in this bill would provide invaluable support for the families of lesbian and gay federal employees, including participation in applicable retirement programs, compensation for work injuries and life and health insurance benefits. DPBO is about equal pay for equal work; a lesbian or gay federal employee who works as hard as her or his colleague in the next cubicle should receive the same compensation.
We have come a long way since last year’s Senate hearing on DPBO, held on September 24, 2008. During that hearing, the Bush Administration’s acting OPM Director testified that the Administration opposed the bill. Today, we have both a president who has expressed strong support for this critical legislation and an incredible advocate for our community in OPM Director John Berry.
S. 1102 was introduced by Chairman Lieberman and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) in the Senate on May 20, 2009. The bill currently has 25 co-sponsors. The House version of the bill, H.R. 2517, was introduced that same day by Congresswoman Baldwin and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and currently has 122 co-sponsors.
Thanks to HRC Policy Assistant Jonathan Monteith for this post.
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