May 25, 2007  |  By: JOSHUA LYNSEN  | COMMENTS     

Maryland could soon join a growing list of states that offer domestic partnership benefits to government employees.

Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland, and state Sen. Rich Madaleno said this week that Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley would support union efforts to win such benefits in the next state workers’ contract.

The governor’s office did not return a call before Blade deadline, but O’Malley previously said he supports domestic partnership benefits for state workers.

“Fortunately, I think this administration is open to the idea, and is willing to actually do the heavy lifting to figure out the costs, to negotiate the contracts and to explain it to the public as to why this is a good thing,” said Madaleno, a gay Democrat who represents Montgomery County.

Before winning the governorship in November, O’Malley served as mayor of Baltimore, where the same-sex partners of city workers receive health care benefits and other perks.

If won at the state level by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, domestic partnership benefits could come into effect during the next contract cycle, which begins in July 2008.

Madaleno said it remains unclear exactly which benefits are being considered or who would qualify, but cohabitating, same-sex partners of state employees likely would obtain health care benefits under the plan.

Sue Esty, legislative director for the local Federation council, said the details of the union’s bargaining demands have yet to be determined.

“I do anticipate — it’s very likely — that the issue of domestic partners will be in our next round of negotiations,” she said. “Our bargaining team is going to be meeting near the end of June to actually pin down our specific bargaining demands. So I can’t say for certain, but I think it’s extremely likely that it will be amongst our demands.”

Domestic partnership benefits, if enacted, are expected to have little impact on Maryland’s budget.

According to a 2006 study by the Williams Institute, employers that offer such benefits often see an enrollment increase for gay and lesbian partners of less than 1 percent.

Madaleno said numbers from Montgomery County show that 0.8 percent of that jurisdiction’s workforce accesses domestic partnership benefits.

“The reality is many people, many same-sex couples, are in dual-income households, where people have access to benefits,” he said. “But for those who would use it, it is of critical importance.”

Among those who stand to benefit are Jo Rabb and Takia Foskey, a lesbian couple living in Baltimore and raising two children.

Rabb, a state employee who works in Baltimore, said she has excellent benefits but cannot enroll Foskey or either of Foskey’s children in her health plan.

That exclusion means that medication and treatments for Foskey’s young son, who has asthma, are costly. Rabb said the expanded state benefits would help.

Madaleno said lawmakers who oppose domestic partnership benefits would have to pass legislation next year to bar Maryland from offering them. General Assembly members do not have direct control over contract negotiations.

“But any piece of legislation that they put in to do it, if it should pass, which I can’t even imagine that happening, the governor would veto it,” he said. “The only way that they could possibly do it is to put a restriction in the budget, and again, I don’t know how they could succeed at that.”

Furmansky said Equality Maryland is ready to fight any such maneuvers.

The organization also is ready, he said, to counter any repetition of arguments made by former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich, who once called benefits to same-sex couples an “erosion of the sanctity” of marriage.

“It’s a ridiculous argument,” Furmansky said. “Domestic partner benefits are about protecting families, providing health care and granting equal pay for equal work.”

If it grants the benefits, Maryland would join a growing list of public and private employers offering the perks.

According to Equality Maryland, 14 states, 200 regional jurisdictions and more than half of Fortune 500 companies offer domestic partnership benefits.

Local employers that Equality Maryland listed as offering the benefits included Discovery Communications in Silver Spring, Lockheed Martin and Marriott International in Bethesda, and the Maryland College of Art & Design in Silver Spring.

Regional governments that offer domestic partnership benefits include College Park, Greenbelt, Hyattsville, Takoma Park and Washington, D.C.