Domestic Partner Benefits for Federal Employees
As of 2010, 22 states, over 100 municipal governments, 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies and most higher education institutions offered identical benefits to domestic partners and married couples. Domestic partners of federal employees, on the other hand, receive only a fraction of the benefits available to the spouses of federal employees. Due to the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal government cannot offer full benefits to partners of federal employees.
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What is Available
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In June 2010, President Obama extended a number of fringe benefits to domestic partners of federal employees, such as child care, employee training and assistance programs, as well as travel and relocation costs, but did not extend any of the larger benefit items, such as heath care. In order to access what benefits are available, partners must send an affidavit stating their relationship to be committed and enduring to the Office of Personnel Management.
Defense of Marriage Act
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The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act defined "marriage," for the purpose of federal law and operations, as a union between one man and one woman. DOMA prohibits any federal agency from recognizing relationships outside of this definition. DOMA has had sweeping effects, from barring the IRS from recognizing joint tax returns filed by domestic partners to preventing federal agencies from extending health care benefits to the partners of employees.
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Changes
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The Obama administration has made incremental steps toward extending benefits for the domestic partners of federal employees. Aside from offering limited benefits in June 2010, the president also ordered a review of benefits and reports from agencies on what other benefits could be extended without violating DOMA. Furthermore, the president has encouraged a House bill that would allow the government to extend all benefits to domestic partners.
HR 2517
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DOMA is a federal law, which means that either Congress must pass further legislation to make any exceptions to it or the courts must strike part or all of it down. HR 2517 --- the Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act --- addresses the former option. On the premise that benefits are a significant part of employee compensation and thus denying benefits means that some employees receive unequal compensation for equal work, HR 2517 would make an exception to DOMA in order to extend full benefits to employees with partners.
State Department
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The State Department has been proactive in finding ways to provide benefits without violating DOMA. One of Secretary of State Clinton's first acts in office was to extend most benefits to the domestic partners of State Department employees, including diplomatic passports, relocation expenses, shipping of personal effects to overseas posts, use of medical facilities and family member hiring preference at overseas posts. The State Department can extend benefits with more ease than most agencies because it runs many of its own services (medical and educational facilities, for example) and can extend benefits to household members (as opposed to spouses), therefore avoiding conflict with DOMA.
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