The Arizona senate defeated a measure on Tuesday that would have prevented state employees from adding domestic partners and their children to their benefits plans. The bill failed on a vote of 16-14, with one of the no votes coming from the bill's sponsor, Sen. Pamela Gorman, in a procedural move to keep the bill alive, according to a Equality Arizona press release.
SB 1499 would exclude domestic partners and their children from the definition of "dependent" for the purposes of state employee and retirement benefits. The bill was introduced as the Arizona Department of Administration awaits a decision from the Governor's Regulatory Review Council on whether or not they can move forward with a proposed rule change to offer domestic-partner benefits to state employees. Most of the nearly 1,500 people who submitted comments to the ADOA support domestic-partner benefits for state employees, according to Equality Arizona executive director Barbara McCullough-Jones. "Today's action supports the people who work for this state every day in jobs that improve the lives of our residents, ensure public safety, and much more," she said in the release.
By voting against the bill, Gorman can make a motion to reconsider the vote. The senator has until Thursday evening to make her reconsideration motion, which needs a majority of senators present at the time for approval. If the motion to reconsider is not approved, today's vote would be final. (The Advocate)
