All posts in the topic Thanks Linda Higgins and Jim Davne! HOUSE PASSES LOCAL GOVERNMENT HEALTH BENEFITS BILL (Short link)

May 16 03:48 UTC

Earlier this year it passed 43-22 in the Senate.  In the house, it's 7
votes short of overriding the governor.  (90 votes needed to do that).

Call the Governor - 651-296-3391, and tell him you want him to SIGN
Senate File 960 - allowing local units of government to determine
their health benefit structure.  This would have the effect of
allowing the City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County to offer Domestic
Partner benefits.

I'd like to thank the Senate Chief Author Linda Higgins for her work
on this bill, and house chief author Jim Davne.

Here's the bill status summary:
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/revisor/pages/search_status/status_detail.php?b=Senate&f=SF0960&ssn=0&y=2007

Here's where you can view the vote:
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/cco/journals/2007-08/J0515116.htm#12216

The question was taken on the passage of the bill and the roll was
called.  There were 83 yeas and 50 nays as follows:

     Those who voted in the affirmative were:

Anzelc
Atkins
Benson
Berns
Bigham
Bly
Brown
Brynaert
Bunn
Carlson
Clark
Davnie
Dill
Dittrich
Dominguez
Eken
Erhardt
Faust
Fritz
Gardner
Greiling
Hansen
Hausman
Haws
Hilstrom
Hilty
Hornstein
Hortman
Hosch
Huntley
Jaros
Johnson
Juhnke
Kahn
Kalin
Knuth
Kranz
Laine
Lenczewski
Lesch
Liebling
Lieder
Lillie
Loeffler
Madore
Mahoney
Mariani
Marquart
Masin
Moe
Morgan
Morrow
Mullery
Murphy, E.
Murphy, M.
Nelson
Norton
Paymar
Pelowski
Peterson, A.
Peterson, N.
Peterson, S.
Poppe
Rukavina
Ruud
Sailer
Scalze
Sertich
Simon
Slawik
Slocum
Solberg
Swails
Thao
Thissen
Tillberry
Tschumper
Wagenius
Walker
Welti
Winkler
Wollschlager
Spk. Kelliher

     Those who voted in the negative were:

Abeler
Anderson, S.
Beard
Brod
Buesgens
Cornish
Dean
DeLaForest
Demmer
Dettmer
Doty
Drazkowski
Eastlund
Emmer
Erickson
Finstad
Garofalo
Gottwalt
Gunther
Hackbarth
Hamilton
Heidgerken
Holberg
Hoppe
Howes
Koenen
Kohls
Lanning
Magnus
McFarlane
McNamara
Nornes
Olin
Olson
Otremba
Ozment
Paulsen
Peppin
Ruth
Seifert
Severson
Shimanski
Simpson
Smith
Tingelstad
Urdahl
Ward
Wardlow
Westrom
Zellers

     The bill was passed and its title agreed to.

A number of legislators who had voted for the Bachmann amendment voted
for this.  These include Denise Dittrich (who voted FOR a creationism
amendment earlier this year), Bev Scalze, Al Junhke, Neil Peterson
(who is facing a Republican endorsed opponent in the primary) and
Patti Fritz.

Call the Governor at 651-291-3391 and ask him to SIGN this bill.  The
state has no business micromanaging HR in municipal governments.

Also, Kudos to OutFront Minnesota.  I was expecting that this bill
would get lost in the shuffle.

Eva Young
Near North
http://lloydletta.blogspot.com

From: Marsicano, Jo <<email obscured>>
Date: Thu, May 15, 2008 at 2:21 PM
Subject: HOUSE PASSES LOCAL GOVERNMENT HEALTH BENEFITS BILL
To:

                May 15th, 2008

Contact:

Jo Marsicano, Communications Director

612-822-0127 ext. 106

Minnesota House Passes Local Government Benefits Bill

Legislation Would Enable Local Governments to Offer Domestic Partner Benefits

(St. Paul) The Minnesota House today passed the local government
benefits bill (SF 960) which would allow local governments to offer
domestic partner benefits to their employees' families. The bill's
language does not reference domestic partners specifically but allows
local units of government such as cities, counties, and school boards
to offer whatever benefits they choose to their employees.  If the
bill were to become law, it would enable local governments to decide
whether to incorporate domestic partner benefits, as well as other
types of benefits, into their employee benefits packages.

Currently, due to a 1995 Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling, local
governments cannot offer benefits outside of those provided to
employees, spouses, and children. This bill would remedy that
restriction.

"This bill is a common-sense and fair solution to helping provide
Minnesota families with the security of health care," according to
Public Policy Director Monica Meyer.  "At the same time, it allows
local governments to make the best decisions for their own
communities." The legislation allows  but does not require  local
governments to expand the types of benefits they offer employees'
families. Domestic partner benefits are offered by more than 300
companies doing business in Minnesota. This legislation would allow
local governments to follow the lead of what business is already
doing.

The bill passed the Senate in April. It now goes to the governor.

OutFront Minnesota's mission is to make our state a place where GLBT
Minnesotans have the freedom, power, and confidence to make the best
choices for their own lives.

Leading Minnesota Toward GLBT Equality. Celebrating Our 21st Year.

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