Apr 10, 2009  |  By: Amy Cavanaugh  | COMMENTS     

As the Maryland legislative session nears its April 13 conclusion, gay state residents have scored at least one victory.

Partners and dependents of gay public employees are poised to receive health, dental and prescription drug benefits for the first time under a new state budget. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s fiscal year 2010 budget passed both houses of the General Assembly.

“Now, the two bills will be reconciled in conference committee,” said Dan Furmansky, Equality Maryland’s former executive director and current legislative consultant. “But [domestic partner] benefits are secure.”

At least one lawmaker, though, was reluctant to declare the benefits a done deal. Lesbian Del. Heather Mizeur (D-Montgomery County) said that while the benefits are likely, they’re “not an entirely done deal.”

“It’s definitely looking positive,” she said. “It has to go through a regulation committee and it can hit snags there, but I expect it to move through.”

Mizeur said that she and other state employees recently “received state notification letting us know that at the next open enrollment, domestic partners would be eligible to receive state benefits.”

Kate Runyon, Equality Maryland’s executive director, said that such benefits represent an important step forward for same-sex couples in the state.

“I’m thrilled that more Maryland residents will be protected and will be able to cover their families,” she said. “In the long run, this will be less expensive for the state of Maryland, and I’m always glad when we can have more folks protected.”

Runyon noted that adding the benefits would require a minimal state investment, based upon other states’ experiences. Open enrollment begins this month and benefits take effect July 1.

State lawmakers also have acted on other pro-gay legislation. Senators voted Tuesday to exempt domestic partners who co-own homes from inheritance taxes after the death of one person. The measure, which passed 28-19, adds domestic partners to the list of family members that can inherit property without paying taxes on that property.

A vote in the House on the measure did not come before Blade deadline, but Mizeur was optimistic.

“I’m not expecting any games or an amendment or poison pills, and I think we can pretty much count on getting it done,” she said.

Meanwhile, an effort to add gender identity to state laws barring discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and credit was stalled and awaiting a vote at Blade deadline in the Senate Judicial Proceedings committee.

A vote on the measure also was pending in the House Health & Government Operations.

“We’re waiting in the House to see what the Senate does,” Mizeur said Wednesday. “So many times we’ll move something and they’ll just sit on it.”

If the anti-discrimination bill dies in committee, it would join a growing list of LGBT-related measures that saw similar fates this year. A bill that would have enacted same-sex marriage in Maryland died thusly, as did a proposed amendment to the Maryland Constitution defining marriages as the union of one man and one woman.

The proposed Maryland Family & Medical Leave Act, which would have required employers subject to the federal Family & Medical Leave Act of 1993 to allow employees leave to care for domestic partners, also died in committee.