Democracy for New Mexico

Domestic Partnership Heath Care Bill Advances

ACTION ALERT: Please contact your NM Representative to support this bill. You can find your representative here. See our previous post on this bill for more information.

From the NM Democratic Majority House Leadership:
A bill that allows health care coverage for domestic partners will be heading to the House floor for a vote. HB 15 sponsored by Rep. Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) received a do pass recommendation from the House Heath and Government Affairs Committee with a 7 to 1 vote.

“This bill gives employers the option of providing health care coverage to employees in a domestic partnership relationship. The bill does not mandate that employers provide coverage, but it does require insurance companies to do so if the business chooses to offer the coverage,” said Rep. Wirth.

Domestic partners are defined as unmarried partners over 18 years of age who are in a mutually exclusive, committed relationship and have shared a primary residence for at least 12 consecutive months. The partners must also be responsible for the common welfare of each other and share financial obligations.

For more information:
Kathleen MacRae, Media Relations
House Majority Office of Ken Martinez
Room 209, 986-4781
Primary contact: cell 505-681-3920

House Bill 603: Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act Introduced

From Equality New Mexico:

Yesterday afternoon, Representative Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque), pictured left, introduced House Bill 603: Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act, on the House floor. This legislation would create a process by which any two adults in a committed relationship, fitting specific criteria would be able to register as domestic partners. Registering as domestic partners would create a series of rights and protections currently unavailable to unmarried couples.

Help Equality New Mexico Lobby for Family Protections by Donating Now.

The Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act would allow couples registering as domestic partners to have access to many of the benefits and protections currently available to married couples on the state level. These include:access to basic health coverage, family leave, presumption of parentage, decision making upon incapacity, and issues related to assuring that the person with whom you live and love is protected should you die.

Join EQNM for Lobby Day at the Roundhouse on March 5.

There are over 1400 state and federal rights and benefits that flow from marriage, most of which will not be available to domestic partners. But right now, lesbian and gay couples, and many of our senior New Mexico citizens are without a safety net for access to basic protections. This legislation would provide some of these basic rights and protections. EQNM believes in full equality for all New Mexicans, and continues to pursue full civil marriage rights for all. At this time, we are working to pass legislation to provide the most possible protections to New Mexican families.

Contact Your Legislators and Tell Them All New Mexican Families Deserve Protection

House Bill 603 has been assigned to the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee. EQNM will update information as hearings are scheduled.

Senate Bill 502:  An Act to Amend the Retiree Health Care Act
Senator John Grubesic (D- Santa Fe), pictured left, has introduced Senate Bill 502. This bill would amend the Retiree Health Care Act to allow domestic partners of state employees to maintain their health insurance after their state employee partner retires. The Bill is currently assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Equality New Mexico will update information when the first committee hearing is scheduled so that you may contact the members of the committee to urge them to support this important bill.

NM: Don't Let These Discriminatory Bills Hit the Floor!

From the DFA-DFNM Meetup Message Board:
Contact your representative and tell them discrimination has no place in New Mexico's Constitution! Two unfair bills will be heard in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on Thursday, February 1, at 1:30 PM in Room 315 of the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.

Representative Gloria Vaughn (R-Alamogordo) has introduced House Joint Resolution 2 (HJR2), proposing an Amendment to New Mexico's Constitution which would define marriage as solely between a man and a woman. It would also bar New Mexico from recognizing any legal marriages between same-sex couples performed in other jurisdictions.

Representative Nora Espinoza (R-Roswell) introduced another bill aiming to strip the rights of New Mexico's LGBT citizens. House Bill 395 (HB395) is a State-level version of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). This bill seeks to define marriage as solely between a man and a woman, and prevent New Mexico from recognizing any valid marriage between same gender couples performed in any other jurisdiction.

Both bills are currently in committee. Don't let these bills hit the floor. Contact your Representatives today and tell them you don't want discrimination written into New Mexico's Constitution! Email the committee members and let them know that bills such as HJR2 and HR395 only serve to weaken our state and divide our people. Their task is to improve the quality of life for all New Mexicans, not to waste time entertaining bills that simply seek to diminish it for some.

The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee meets Thursday, February 1st at 1:30 PM in Room 315. Both these bills are on the agenda for that day.

Editor's Note: You can automatically contact the legislators on the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee by using this tool at the Equality New Mexico website.

(To find your representative, click on the link below:

https://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/leg.asp?who=H

Consumer and Public Affairs Committee Members :

Gail Chasey (D), Chair
District 18, Bernalillo County
gailchasey@msn.com

Irvin Harrison (D), Vice Chair
District 5, McKinley & San Juan Counties
irv4u@cnetco.com

Thomas A. Anderson (R)
District 29, Bernalillo County
kb5ysg@arrl.net

Nora Espinoza (R)
District 59, Chaves, Lincoln & Otero Counties
noralee@cableone.net

Antonio "Moe" Maestas (D)
District 16, Bernalillo County
antonio@moejustice.com

Al Park (D)
District 26, Bernalillo County
alpark.nm@gmail.com

W.C. "Dub" Williams (R)
District 56, Lincoln & Otero Counties
986-4454 (no email address)

Health Insurance Coverage for Domestic Partners Clears First Hurdle at NM Legislature

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports:

A bill that would require insurance companies to provide health coverage to domestic partners of employees -- if requested by an employer -- cleared its first hurdle Tuesday when it was unanimously endorsed by the House Consumers and Public Affairs Committee.

"What we're doing is kind of working along the edges to close gaps that exist as we move toward universal coverage," bill sponsor Rep. Peter Wirth (photo right), D-Santa Fe, said after the committee hearing.

The bill (House Bill 15) next goes to the House Health and Government Affairs Committee.

I have a personal stake in this one as I get my health insurance via my partner's job. We have to pay extra for it on a taxable basis, but if my partner's employer didn't use an insurer that provides such coverage, I'd be out of luck. And that insurer could change its mind any time about offerering domestic partner coverage.

There are a number of insurers (not to mention employers) in NM that flat out refuse to offer it. If my partner took a job at a company using one of them, I'd lose my coverage. Unfortunately, I'm not qualified to purchase COBRA coverage if my partner should lose her job for any reason, unlike the spouses and dependents of employees, but at least I have it for now. Sadly, my partner has actually had to turn down jobs with employers whose insurance plans refused to offer domestic coverage, despite the fact the employer wanted it. Unfair indeed.

Fortunately, it looks like this bill, which would apply to both straight and gay domestic partners, has a good chance of passing, according to its sponsor:

Wirth said he has received overwhelmingly positive feedback to his bill. "This is one of those bills that really makes sense," Wirth said.

This bill is one of the legislative efforts being supported by Equality New Mexico. Click here for their report on the bill, which includes some warnings about possible right wing interest in excluding GLBT citizens from coverage by introducing a Super DOMA bill. Also see my previous post for more info on EQNM's legislative plans.

Here's a list of members of the House Health and Government Affairs Committee, where the bill will next be heard. It's very important to contact them NOW.

You can see a copy of the bill and follow its progress here. If passed by the House Health & Government Affairs Committee (HHGAC), the bill will go to the Senate for committee assignment there.

NM Legislature '07: Equality NM Lobbying

From Equality New Mexico:
LEGISLATURE IN SESSION: The 2007 Legislative Session has officially begun!!! For the next 2 months, Equality New Mexico will be actively lobbying the legislature with a proactive agenda trying to expand the rights and protections New Mexico offers to its LGBT citizens. quality New Mexico is putting forward an aggressive agenda to procure new rights and benefits for LGBT families and to maintain the protections that already exist. 

Equality New Mexico will be pursuing the passage of four important pieces of legislation, all the while continuing our efforts to maintain New Mexico’s status as one of only four states that does not define marriage as solely between a man and a woman, by advocating for the defeat of any form of DOMA (Definition Of Marriage Act).

The four pieces of legislation that we will be advocating for are:

1) Domestic Partnership Legislation: this legislation would create a domestic partner registry allowing any two non-familial adults in an intimate relationship to form a domestic partnership.  This domestic partnership would provide the couple with all of the rights, protections and responsibilities available to married couples on the state level. 

This domestic partnership legislation is the center piece of our legislative agenda this year. EQNM will also be introducing marriage legislation (see below). We strongly believe that ALL New Mexicans deserve full equality under the law. However, we believe that domestic partner legislation has the best chance of passing this session. As the statewide LGBT advocacy organization, we are committed to obtaining the maximum rights and benefits for as many as possible, as soon as possible. While clearly domestic partnership does not give the LGBT community the equality we deserve, this legislation will provide many of the rights and protections so many of our families desperately need. 

2) Legislation to correct the disparity between state employees that are married and those that are domestically partnered: Currently, when a state employee retires, their domestic partner loses their insurance. This bill would allow domestic partners to maintain their insurance after their state employee partner retires.

3) Insurance Legislation: this bill would require that insurance companies offer domestic partner insurance benefits if an employer wants to offer them.

4) Civil Marriage Legislation:This legislation would amend the marriage license form to remove the gender specific language and would include a clear statement that the purpose of this legislation would be to allow same gender couples to enter into civil marriage.

Our agenda is aggressive, difficult, and also achievable, but we will need the help of the entire LGBT community and our allies. There are several things you can do to help:

• Sign up at our EQNM Action Center for regular e-blasts from EQNM to stay informed: https://eqnm.org/index.html
• Contact your legislators and ask them to support EQNM’s legislative agenda: https://eqfed.org/eqnm/leg-lookup/search.html
• Join EQNM at the Roundhouse on Lobby Day, March 5, 2007: https://eqnm.org/lobbyday.html
• Make a contribution to our lobbying efforts: https://eqnm.org/donate.html

NEW EQUALITY NEW MEXICO WEBSITE LAUNCHED: Equality New Mexico has launched our new website!  The EQNM staff, board and volunteers have been working diligently to develop this new site to make it more user friendly.  With the launch of this new site, it will be easier for the community to get updates on what’s happening  at EQNM, in the legislature, and in the LGBT community in New Mexico and beyond. Please check it out at www.eqnm.org. This site will continue to be improved, but we would love your input. What do you want to see on the EQNM website?  What features will help you and the rest of the community?  Please let us know by e-mailing info@eqnm.org.

Special thanks go out to Board Member Michael Palmer and Administrative Manager Michelle Penson for taking on the bulk of this difficult task!

Please mark your calendars for these important upcoming events:

February 3, 2007:     Lobbying Training, sponsored by EQNM and Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance (Santa Fe, Location TBD)

February 11, 2007     Bubbly to Benefit Equality: Wine Tasting Fundraiser (Gruet Winery, Albuquerque)

March 5, 2007           EQNM LOBBY DAY AT THE ROUNDHOUSE: https://eqnm.org/lobbyday.html

April 28, 2007           2nd Annual Equality Ball (Sandia Resort and Casino)

August 8–11, 2007    Equality Federation Summer Meeting (Nativo Lodge, Albuquerque)