A
prominent
Senate
Democrat
last
week
took
steps
to
block
an
amendment
to
the
minimum
wage
bill
that
would
provide
tax
deductions
for
employer-generated
health
benefits
for
domestic
partners.
Sen.
Max
Baucus
(D-Mont.),
chair
of
the
Senate
Finance
Committee,
threatened
to
invoke
a
parliamentary
rule
to
stop
Sen.
Gordon
Smith
(R-Ore.)
and
Sen.
Charles
Schumer
(D-N.Y.)
from
introducing
the
domestic
partner
amendment.
Baucus
said
he
ruled
out
consideration
of
the
Smith-Schumer
amendment
—
along
with
all
other
health-related
amendments
—
saying
they
would
jeopardize
a
compromise
package
of
tax
relief
proposals
for
small
businesses
that
Republicans
have
demanded
as
a
condition
for
backing
the
minimum
wage
measure.
“This
was
one
amendment
of
many
that
was
not
considered
procedurally,”
said
Carol
Guthrie,
a
spokesperson
for
Baucus.
“He
assured
his
colleagues,
including
Senator
Smith,
that
he
would
welcome
the
full
consideration
of
all
health-related
amendments
at
another
time,”
Guthrie
said.
“Senator
Smith
seemed
to
understand
that.”
Guthrie
said
Baucus
supports
the
domestic
partners
measure
proposed
by
Smith
and
Schumer.
The
Fair
Minimum
Wage
Act
of
2007,
to
which
Smith
and
Schumer
sought
to
attach
their
amendment,
calls
for
raising
the
nation’s
minimum
wage,
a
proposal
that
Democrats
in
Congress
have
placed
at
the
top
of
their
list
of
priorities
for
this
year.
R.C.
Hammond,
a
spokesperson
for
Smith,
said
Smith
backed
down
from
introducing
the
amendment
in
committee
on
Jan.
17
and
on
the
Senate
floor
on
Jan.
24
after
Baucus
and
Democratic
leaders
informed
him
they
would
rule
the
amendment
non-germane,
preventing
it
from
coming
up
for
a
vote.
Smith
filed
the
amendment
for
floor
consideration
on
his
and
Schumer’s
behalf
on
Jan.
23
but
did
not
take
further
action.
A
spokesperson
for
Schumer
could
not
be
reached.
The
head
of
the
national
gay
group
Log
Cabin
Republicans
called
on
Democratic
leaders
to
overrule
Baucus
and
to
allow
the
domestic
partner
measure
to
be
considered
as
an
amendment
to
the
minimum
wage
bill.
“LGBT
Democrats
gave
a
lot
of
money
and
support
to
their
party
last
November,”
said
Log
Cabin
President
Patrick
Sammon.
“Now
Senate
Democrats
better
not
block
the
first
piece
of
pro-gay
legislation
in
the
110th
Congress,”
he
said.
“Majority
Leader
Harry
Reid
(D-Nev.)
should
stop
Senator
Baucus
from
obstructing
this
amendment
and
allow
a
vote
by
the
full
Senate,”
Sammon
said.
David
Smith,
vice
president
of
programs
for
Human
Rights
Campaign,
the
nation’s
largest
gay
civil
rights
group,
said
HRC
is
confident
that
Baucus
was
not
singling
out
the
domestic
partner
amendment
for
delay.
“None
of
these
health
amendments
were
actually
put
to
a
vote
because
Baucus
was
taking
the
same
line
with
everyone
—
there
would
be
a
later
health
tax
bill
and
that
would
be
the
time
to
offer
such
amendments,”
David
Smith
said.
“The
most
important
point
is
[Sens.]
Smith
and
Baucus
had
a
very
positive
verbal
exchange
about
the
amendment
after
Smith
withdrew
it,
where
Baucus
said
that
he
believed
the
amendment
had
a
lot
of
merit
and
that
he
hoped
to
consider
it
as
soon
as
possible
in
the
context
of
another
legislative
vehicle,”
HRC’s
Smith
said.
A
spokesperson
for
the
National
Stonewall
Democrats,
which
represents
gay
Democrats,
called
Sen.
Smith’s
involvement
in
seeking
to
add
the
domestic
partners
measure
to
the
minimum
wage
bill
a
publicity
stunt
aimed
at
portraying
himself
as
being
more
moderate
than
he
is
for
his
2008
re-election
bid.
Stonewall
Democrats
spokesperson
John
Marble
noted
that
Smith
voted
for
a
constitutional
amendment
to
ban
same-sex
marriage
and
“maintains
an
overall
dismal
record
on
issues
that
impact
LGBT
families.”
“It
is
important
to
point
out
the
irony
in
which
Senator
Smith
fully
supports
efforts
to
amend
the
United
States
Constitution
to
permanently
remove
the
very
protections
that
this
amendment
seeks
to
extend,”
Marble
said.
Sen.
Smith’s
gay
Republican
supporters
point
to
Smith’s
past
support
for
other
gay
rights
legislation,
including
the
Employment
Non-Discrimination
Act,
or
ENDA,
which
would
ban
employment
discrimination
based
on
sexual
orientation;
and
a
hate
crimes
prevention
bill
that
includes
protection
for
gays
and
transgender
persons.
Hammond
said
Smith
has
yet
to
take
a
position
on
whether
to
support
a
revised
version
of
ENDA
that
includes
protections
for
transgender
persons.
Smith
and
Schumer’s
proposed
amendment
to
the
minimum
wage
bill
consists
of
a
portion
of
the
Domestic
Partner
Health
Benefits
Equity
Act,
which
Smith
and
Schumer
introduced
in
2005.
The
part
of
the
bill
included
in
Smith’s
amendment
would
provide
a
tax
exemption
for
the
cost
of
health
insurance
benefits
that
self-employed
individuals
provide
for
their
domestic
partners.
Under
the
current
tax
code,
self-employed
persons
who
are
married
already
receive
this
tax
exemption
for
the
health
benefits
they
provide
to
their
spouses.
Language
in
the
bill
that
Smith
did
not
include
in
his
amendment
would
provide
a
tax
exemption
for
health
insurance
benefits
received
by
domestic
partners
of
all
employees
who
obtain
health
insurance
from
their
employer.
The
current
tax
code
requires
employees
with
domestic
partners
to
pay
taxes
on
such
benefits
as
if
they
were
ordinary
income.
“Non-traditional
families
are
part
of
the
fabric
of
our
society
and
deserve
fair
treatment,”
Smith
said
in
a
statement.
“The
tax
code
weighs
heavily
on
small
business
owners
as
it
is;
we
shouldn’t
increase
the
burden
by
leaving
this
inequity
...
