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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2007)
is : justout APRIL 6. IW /\/1 |\| P Accounting for ÆyT I \l ■ No n - Profi ts Accounting for Non-Profits is a stable, self-directed organization that, through responsive education and service, empowers the non-profit community with operational stability and independence. Let us help your non-profit with: Accounting and Bookkeeping Federal and State Income Tax Preparation Technology consulting, including hardware and software selection, implementation &. maintenance Budget development and monitoring Board and staff financial training I >07^ Business IVvclopment Jacolyn C. Wheatley is a local Certified Public Accountant with over 1 J years of experience serving the accounting and technology needs of snuill to medium sited Non Profit Organizations. 4134 N Vancouver Ave, Portland, OR 97217 • 503-284-6214 • jwheatley@a4np.org Tune up your vacation plans —and your car! Spend time before your vacation to make sure your car is running in tip-top shape. Regular maintenance improves fuel efficiency and reduces harmful emissions. If just 1% of drivers would properly maintain their cars, we could keep nearly a billion pounds of carbon dioxide from poisoning our air. Safeguard your real estate. Save your planet. E lise C ampbell Service is the key... it s that simple. ELISE CAMPBELL BROKER, GRI, ABR, ePRO 503-307-1353 ElisefiiEliseCampell.com www.EliseCampbell.com Compass Realty, Inc. ■■"■■"•D avid W. O wens NATIONAL Tax Equity Bill Introduced U.S. Rt*p. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., intro duced the Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act in the U.S. House on March 29. The legisla tion would end the tax inequities that apply to employer-provided health insurance for domestic partners. The Internal Revenue Code excludes from income the value of insurance premiums and benefits received by employees for coverage of an employee’s spouse and dependents but does not extend this treatment to coverage of domestic partners. As a result, employees are taxed on the coverage provided to their partners. In addition, rhe value of domestic partner benefits is included in the employee’s wages for the purpose of calculating pay roll taxes, thus increasing both the employee’s and the employer’s payroll tax obligations. “This legislation to provide equitable tax treat ment to all employees, regardless of their sexual orientation, is as fair and common sense as it gets,” said Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese. “Over half of Fortune 500 companies now offer domestic partner health benefits to their employees, and there is no logical reason why these benefits should be taxed any differently.” U.S. Sens. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are expected to introduce their bipartisan companion bill, the Domestic Partner Health Benefits Equity Act, in the Senate soon. As of Jan. 1, 265 of the Fortune 500 corporations offered health benefits to employees’ domestic partners, more than twice as many as in 2000 and more than a 10-fold increase since 1995. CALIFORNIA Gay Rights Bills Pass in Committee P.C. & serving ASSOCIATES the community since 1975 A ttorneys at L aw Serving Oregon & Washington 503°224°3100 DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS ADOPTIONS • ESTATE PLANNING WILLS • TRUSTS • ADVANCE DIRECTIVES POWER OF ATTORNEY GUARDIANSHIPS AND CONSERVATORSHIPS www owens-law com • 101 SW MAIN, SUITE 700 • Portland, Oregon 97204 • Parking Validated national 3ZZ Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, authored the Name Equity Act, which gives couples the opportunity to change their surnames when they marry or register as domestic partners. California affiliates of the American Civil Liberties Union. Under current law, domestic partners have faced costly and lengthy court proceedings in order to change their last names. Married couples have faced similar challenges in order for a husband to take his wife’s last name. The ACLU of Southern California has taken the name-change issue to federal court on behalf of Michael Buday. He tried to take his wife’s last name when they married and testified before the commit tee about the rejection he received from several government offices. 500 Youth Rally in Sacramento More than 500 youth rallied March 26 at the California Capitol, where they called for the end of harassment and discrimination against queer youth. The young people carried signs and balloons in a rainbow of colors to the Capitol lawn, then met with lawmakers to educate them about the need for safe schools in California. “Queer Youth Advocacy Day empowered hundreds of LGBT youth and straight allies to become engaged in the political process, sharing their powerful stories with legislators about harass ment and discrimination that is unfortunately still a daily problem in our schools,” said Carolyn Laub, executive director of the Gay Straight Alliance Network, a co-sponsor of the event. “Youth from across the state rallied for equality and advocated Two bills sponsored by Equality California that would expand opportunities and protections for queers passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee on March 27. One bill would include the sexual minori ties community in the state’s nondiscrimination standards. The second bill would give domestic partners the opportunity to change their surname upon domestic partnership registration. Assembly Bill 14, the Civil Rights Act of 2007, authored by John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, would strengthen and clarify 51 provisions in state law by making them consistent with the strongest standards of nondiscrimination protection. It would prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, disability, medical condition, marital status, sex (including gender identity) and sexual orientation. It passed committee with a 7-3 vote. “Having consistent nondiscrimination protec tions is important so that all Californians have the same opportunities to fulfill their lives," said Equality California executive director Geoff Kors. “This bill strengthens protections for all people and specifies that no Californian will be denied access to state services, programs or any other opportuni ty based on their gender or sexual orientation." With an 8-2 bipartisan vote, the Assembly Judiciary Committee also passed AB 102, the Name Equity Act, which would give domestic partners and married spouses the opportunity to change their surnames when they marry or register as domestic partners. The bill, authored by Fiona Larry Gierer was elected the first openly gay Via, D-San Francisco, is co-sponsored by three and HIV-positive mayor of Oakland Park, Fla.
