Domestic Partners Bills Offered

Bills offered in the House and Senate (HR-2517 and S-1102) would make same-sex domestic partners of federal employees living together in a committed relationship eligible for insurance, family leave, survivor annuities and all other benefits for which spouses are eligible. The domestic partners would also be subject to the same responsibilities that apply to the spouses of federal employees, such as anti-nepotism rules and financial disclosure requirements. The Senate version is backed by the chair and ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Sens. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, who termed the benefit a potentially valuable personnel tool for the government at a time when such benefits are increasingly common in the private sector. They estimated that the measure would affect about 30,000 employees. Meanwhile, the State Department has said it will offer certain benefits to domestic partners of foreign service officers stationed overseas, including access to medical facilities, and some training, transportation and evacuation benefits.