Brody's Notes... Arizona Set To Defend Cutting Benefits For Same-Sex Couples

By Mark Singer (Washington DC) FED 14 | Attorneys representing the State of Arizona are due to appear before a 3 judge panel of the 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California today to defend a decision of Arizona's legislature signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer, which stripped same-sex couples, domestic partners and their children from receiving state worker's benefits.

A lawsuit was filed by Lambda legal on behalf of 10 state workers in November of 2009 that argued that the law discriminated against Lesbian & Gay couples, especially in light of the fact that under Arizona law they're unable to get legally married. Last July, U. S. District Court Judge John Sedwick issued a temporary junction against the benefit cuts, ruling that the law violated the U.S. Constitution's equal-protection clause by making it impossible for same-sex couples to get health coverage.

"The state can't require employees to be married in order to qualify for family benefits when Arizona offers no legal unions for same-sex couples, said Tara Borelli, an attorney with Lambda Legal, "The state has set up a legal impossibility for gay couples," she said. Borelli will deliver the arguments for the plantiff's case before the appellate panel today.

The Arizona Republic newspaper reported Sunday that more than 600 state workers lost health-care coverage for their heterosexual partners on Jan. 1. The law also cut benefits for adult children, but federal health-care reform required the state to offer insurance to dependent children up to age 26.

Benefits to 480 same-sex partners and about 60 children would be cut off if the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifts the injunction. A three-judge panel in San Francisco hears oral arguments today. Arizona spends $625 million a year on employee benefits, of which roughly $5 million went to benefits for all domestic partners.