Bill extending benefits to same-sex partners heads to Ritter's desk
DENVER • The state House of Representatives gave final approval Tuesday to a bill extending health insurance and other benefits to the same-sex partners of state employees.
A 34-30 vote on SB88 sent the measure to the desk of Gov. Bill Ritter. If he signs it, a state employee can get benefits for a same-sex partner if the employee declares that he or she has been in a committed relationship for at least a year.
The nonpartisan Legislative Council estimated that the bill would cost roughly $150,000 in additional benefits payments when it goes into effect in July 2010.
Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, a sponsor of the bill and one of two openly gay members of the Legislature, acknowledged that the measure would cost the state but said, "This is just the fair and right thing to do."
"We went beyond fairness when we restricted this only to same-sex couples," said Rep. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs. "If you're a heterosexual couple that is not married, you don't qualify for this bill."
Lambert said the bill ignored the will of the people expressed in a pair of 2006 state referendums. One defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman, and the other granted legal rights to same-sex domestic partners. Voters approved the first measure and rejected the second.
Ferrandino said the 2006 referendums "didn't exclude other things," such as insurance benefits and said many Colorado municipalities had extended benefits to same-sex partners.
The Springs and El Paso County aren't among them.
