Schools offer health coverage for partners, county government won't
If you're a gay county school employee and get married in another state, your partner qualifies for health benefits starting Friday.If you work for county government, your partner does not qualify.
In a split that might be unique in Maryland, county schools and county government have parted ways on benefits for same-sex marriages.
School officials say they are backed by an opinion from state Attorney General Douglas Gansler.
County officials cite an opinion from County Attorney Jonathan Hodgson.
The disagreement is just the latest between officials for county government and the schools, who have diverged over everything from interpretation of state law on county spending on schools to the definition of a raise.
"Do you find that surprising?" County Executive John R. Leopold said.
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3 comments:
What county are we talking about here?
Anne Arundel? It would be prudent to include such information in your headlines, or the text of the article without having to click-thru ....
If you are a gay employee of the State of MD your partner has been able to be covered for the past couple of years. However, if you are living with your heterosexual partner you are not allowed to cover them. To me that clearly is a case of discrimination and an abuse of taxpayers money!
I agree with 716. The definition of "marriage" between a man and a woman should be used for insurance purposes. If someone lives outside that established definition, that is their choice but the benefits should not include them as a dependent for insurance coverage. It is not the state's right to get involved in their partnership choice in either case and it is not the responsibility to cover them either. Same for a county. And, to cover the gay couple and not cover the other IS discriminatory. The gay couple should have no greater benefit than the other.
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