Mar 30, 2007  |  By: JOSHUA LYNSEN  | COMMENTS     

exempted insurance companies from writing policies inclusive of domestic partners and their children died in committee.

But a bill to allow cohabitating Maryland adults to deduct up to $5,000 in medical expenses from their state income was withdrawn earlier this month.

Two other bills backed by Equality Maryland also floundered.

House Bill 430, which would have required state contractors to pay its workers a living wage, died in committee despite having 60 sponsors. Senate Bill 546, meanwhile, got little traction in an attempt to address certain campaign finance issues.

Regardless, Furmansky said he felt good about the organization’s overall batting average.

“We feel as though we’re maximizing our resources to do right by the communities that we represent,” he said. “We continue to move forward at a rapid rate in the state of Maryland and have no intention of slowing down.”

Furmansky noted that tentative plans for next year’s legislative session are already forming.

“What we do know is that our priority will be passing transgender equality legislation,” he said. “It’s an absolute travesty that we weren’t able to get it passed this year.”

In the meantime, however, Furmansky said Equality Maryland is preparing for the state’s highest court to issue a ruling in a key marriage case. Among the options the judges are considering is overturning Maryland’s statutory ban on same-sex marriage.

“We’re running a full-scale campaign that involves outreach to all sectors of Maryland,” he said.