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■■"■■"•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.
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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.