Capitol Correspondent
LANSING-
Last week, the announcement from the City of Kalamazoo that it would end its non-union domestic partner benefits program, cracked open the flood gates. Soon after, Ann Arbor Public Schools and Farmington Public Schools announced they would remove domestic partner benefits from the table in their upcoming renewal contract talks, and when the current contracts expired, so would the benefits.
The Kalamazoo City Manager opened the gate when he told the Associated Press, "We have no authority, as being a creation of the state, to ignore the (Michigan) constitution as defined." Collard contends the Appeals Court decision in February makes it clear, the city cannot offer the benefits.
But Jay Kaplan,from the ACLU Gay/Lesbian Project, said that is not true. "The court said you could offer these benefits, but you had to do it without recognizing the relationship."
Michigan State University has developed a pilot program, launching July 1, which will do just that. The new program, called the Other Eligible Individual (OEI) program, will replace the current non-union domestic partners program. Under the program, a person will be eligible only if they are at least 18 years old, not related to the employee, do not meet the IRS definition of dependent, and do not stand to inherit from the employee.
"MSU recently introduced an Other Eligible Individual pilot program that we believe meets the requirements of the law and that helps us to offer a competitive health care benefits package to our valued employees," said Pam Beemer, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources at MSU. "The pilot program was developed by MSU Human Resources working in close consultation with a group of University employees with legal, financial and human resources expertise."
Gary Glenn, head of the American Family Association of Michigan, told the Detroit News that he thought the MSU language was legal. Glenn also told voters that Proposal 2 was about defining marriage as between one man and one woman–and not about benefits. But within hours of the amendments passage, he was pursuing legal action to eliminate domestic partner programs across the state.
A survey of the major state universities completed by the Detroit News also found that each was working on a similar plan to the OEI from MSU.
Ann Arbor Public Schools announced last Monday that when their current bargaining contract ended in 2009, so would the districts domestic partners program.
Liz Margolis, spokesperson for the district, said the school did not want to end the program. "This is not something the Ann Arbor Public Schools and the voters voted in, " Margolis told BTL in a phone interview. "We have always shown that we support domestic partner benefits. We want our employees to have open and equal access."
Regardless, the district was advised by its attorneys to notify its employees that when the current bargaining contracts end, so do the domestic partner benefits.
But Margolis said the District is pulling together a work group and will study alternatives, including the MSU plan, over the summer.
Meanwhile, in Kalamazoo, citizens don't have the luxury of time. On July 1, the four non-bargaining unit employees will lose their benefits.
Starting June 13, citizens will rally on the steps of Kalamazoo City Hall every Wednesday from 12 noon until 1 p.m. through June.
"The rally is to gain the attention the citizens, the city manager and city commissioners," said Terry Kuseske from Kalamazoo Alliance for Equality (KAFE) and a board member of Michigan Equality. "They have the opportunity to offer coverage for these four employees. We all know that they are working on wording through MSU and UofM. (Looking at) how they can put words in place and still allow them to have health care coverage."
In addition to the KAFE rally in Kalamazoo, Pride At Work, a national LBGT union organizing program has issued a plea to union members to get involved.
"We implore you, if you want to see your benefits continue, to get involved with your union. Become a shop steward. When your contract is up for renewal, get on the bargaining team, and make sure that your union leadership will insist on finding legal ways to maintain employer-funded benefits for LGBT workers and their families," wrote Pride At Work, Michigan Chapter, Co-Chairs Steve Gillroy and Cheryl Bollinger in an open letter to the LBGT community.
That letter also announced the organization had formed a task force on the issue, called The Benefits Protection Task Force. The Task Force will be available to assist unions bargain new, legally acceptable language into new contracts to assure the continued existence of some form of benefits for the LBGT community employees.
All the public agencies said they are eagerly awaiting word from the Michigan Supreme Court on the impending appeal decision on the case.
Liz Margolis, like many in the state, is left wondering.
"I wish I knew why folks voted for this. If people really knew what this was going to mean when they voted," she said. "If they did, it is a sad statement about our state."
