A draft ordinance currently working its way to the Edmonds City Council would extend benefits currently offered only to married city employees to gay city employees and their domestic partners as well.
The ordinance would grant gay couples with state sanctioned “domestic partnerships” the same rights as married couples for insurance purposes, as well as other benefits like bereavement leave, city lawyer Scott Snyder said.
According to Snyder, similar ordinances have been enacted in cities across Puget Sound in response to a wave of legal action brought by the national Lambda Legal Foundation, a national organization that defends the civil rights of gays and lesbians.
The city’s proposed ordinance would extend those same benefits to any “domestic partnership.” According to state law, unmarried heterosexual couples with at least one person older than 62 years of age are also eligible for domestic partnerships.
Although no lawsuit has been threatened against Edmonds, city officials see no need to wait.
“We want to get ahead of the curve on this,” Mayor Gary Haakenson said. “We don’t want to put the city in a position to get sued by anyone.”
Lambda Legal’s lawsuits have been a reaction to a state law prohibiting discrimination that was enacted earlier this year.
A second law, which took effect in July, established the domestic partnership provision.
That second law is what makes Edmonds’ proposed ordinance possible, Snyder said.
“It gives us a bright line for the city to use,” he said. “The registration process gives people a piece of paper if they are eligible. There is no doubt.”
Some cities, like Bellevue, have extended benefits to a broader group of employees, not only those who meet the state’s eligibility requirements for a domestic partnership.
The city is trying to move quickly with the ordinance, Mayor Haakenson said.
In the next few months, the city is going into collective bargaining with four of its unions, including the Teamsters, the police union, the firefighters union, and the Service Employees International Union, Haakenson said.
If the city council approves the ordinance, insurance benefits will immediately kick in for eligible employees. It will take five days before the other benefits will be effective, Synder said.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
