In Brief

Staff Reports

University of Michigan Faculty Plan To Fight Domestic Partner Benefits Ban Legislation

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN -- The outlook for domestic partner benefits for Michigan's state employees —including staff at Michigan’s 15 public universities— are in jeopardy due to a pair of bills that the sponsors claim will save approximately $8 million a year by eliminating the benefits.

House Bills 4770 and 4771, approved by the House of Representatives in a 64-44 vote in September and then by the Senate Committee on Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing last week would prohibit any government entity in the state from providing such benefits.

Several public entities, representing tens of thousands of workers, currently provide such benefits for domestic partners of employees, including the State of Michigan, at least 10 public universities, at least 5 city and county governments, and at least 3 public school districts.

In an article published Monday by Ann-Arbor.com, higher education reporter Kellie Woodhouse writes:

U-M Latin professor Sara Ahbel-Rappe said that if bill 4770 passes there will likely be a large exodus of professors who leave the university.

“It’s a total slap in the face. It tells me that I don’t deserve the same consideration” as heterosexual couples, she said. “People will leave.”

Ahbel-Rappe and six other professors authored a letter to Gov. Rick Synder asking him not to sign bill 4770 if passed by the senate. The letter calls the bill discriminatory and says it will negatively affect staff recruitment at the university.

U-M officials are also concerned about the bill’s effects. Nearly all of U-M’s competitors offer benefits to same-sex partners. So do most Fortune 500 companies.

“These benefits are important for the successful recruitment and retention of our top-flight faculty and staff,” said Cynthia Wilbanks, U-M’s vice president of government relations. “We’re in competition on a lot of levels, this would be an added competitive disadvantage.”

Wilbanks said the university is actively lobbying politicians in Lansing.

Will it be enough? “If the bill gets to the senate floor there will be a vigorous debate ..." she said, "but over a long career, I have learned not to speculate.”

Sonya Alvarado, president of the Eastern Michigan University Federation of Teachers union, said the bill sends the wrong message to college students.

"The message we would be sending to our students if this goes through is a negative one," she said. "The university is about inclusion. The university is about open discussion. This bill just goes against everything that the university is about."

Washington Voters Would Support Same-Sex marriage Law New Poll Finds

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- The Seattle Times reports that a new state-wide poll by the University of Washington Center for Survey Research found most voters would support a state gay marriage law if it's approved by the Legislature. 

"That of voters surveyed, 55-percent indicated they would uphold a Legislature-approved same sex marriage law if it were challenged by referendum. The poll found 38-percent would oppose the law and 7-percent were undecided. However, additional questions in the poll found that 44-percent of voters surveyed said gays and lesbians should have the same legal right as straight couples to marry; and 22-percent said they should have the same legal rights as married couples, but it should not be called marriage. 17-percent said there should be no legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples. The wide-ranging poll touched on several other issues, including the state budget shortfall. The Washington Poll surveyed 938 registered voters state-wide from October 10-30. It has a plus or minus 3.2 percentage points margin of error."  ~ The Seattle Times 

State Senator Ed Murray (D-Seattle) and Representative Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle) both have indicated they're considering a push for a same sex marriage measure in the next regular session in January 2012. Both men have worked on LGBTQ Equality Rights issues for a number of years and have been building political support incrementally for same sex marriage in Washington State.