Roadmap for Congressional Action in the 111th Congress
The election of Barack Obama removed a major roadblock to the expansion of LGBT equality in America. With the Bush Administration’s frequent veto threats no longer an issue, and with more fair-minded lawmakers in the U.S. Congress than ever, the stage is set to begin moving long-sought legislation to protect LGBT health, safety, jobs and other basic rights; equalize LGBT access to federal benefits and protections; repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”; and more.
HRC’s legislative agenda for the 111th Congress and beyond is designed to take advantage of this new environment and steadily and methodically expand support for full LGBT equality.
Our agenda includes more than one dozen goals across seven broad areas: community safety, family protections, workplace protections, health, military service, education and immigration.
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Back to TopCommunity Safety
- Enact Hate Crimes Legislation By Summer
Nationwide, a violent crime motivated by bigotry takes place every hour of every day. These crimes affect not just victims, but entire communities because they send the message that some people are neither welcome nor safe simply because of who they are.
Under current law, when the targets of these crimes are LGBT Americans, the federal government does not have the authority to step in and investigate, prosecute or even offer assistance to local law enforcement. The Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act would enable the government to offer financial and other assistance to localities that are investigating and prosecuting anti-LGBT hate crimes, and to step in when local authorities can’t or won’t.
HRC is committed to achieving enactment of this legislation by the time Congress breaks for its August recess, as a key step toward letting all Americans know that LGBT hate violence will no longer be tolerated by America’s law enforcement and political leadership.
Back to TopFamily Protections
- Promote the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act
- Move the Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act
- Expand the Family and Medical Leave Act
- Advocate for Paid Sick Leave for LGBT Partners and Parents
- Advocate for Paid Family and Medical Leave for LGBT Partners and Parents
- Provide Domestic Partners Access to Continued Health Coverage Under COBRA
- Address LGBT Inequality Under Social Security
According to the 2000 Census, 780,000 lesbian and gay couples live in 99.3% of U.S. counties, and approximately 27 percent are raising one or more children in the home. Yet while married different-sex couples have access to hundreds of protections for themselves and their children at the state level, and more than 1,100 federal protections and benefits, families headed by lesbian and gay do not—even if they are recognized as married or as civil union partners in their home states.
HRC has worked to chip away at that inequality for more than six years, achieving progress in protecting families’ retirement savings. During the 111th Congress, we will work vigorously to accelerate that progress by targeting seven specific goals.
Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act (DPBO): Federal employees receive generous benefits packages including comprehensive family health benefits, relocation expenses and pensions. Under current law, these benefits are exclusive to different-sex spouses and children. The DPBO legislation would provide equal family benefits to same-sex partners of federal civilian employees, and help the federal government compete with America’s leading employers—many of whom are already offering equal family fully inclusive benefits—in recruiting the top talent. In the 111th Congress, HRC will work to increase support for DPBO, which President Obama co-sponsored while in the Senate, and seek committee action in the House and Senate.
Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act: Currently, the value of insurance premiums and benefits provided to same-sex domestic partners, unlike those provided to married different-sex partners, is considered taxable income under federal tax law. Employees receiving employer-provided major medical coverage for themselves and a domestic partner can pay over $1,000 more in taxes than their different-sex married counterparts. The Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act (House) and the Tax Equity for Domestic Partner and Health Plan Beneficiaries Act (Senate) would eliminate that inequity. In the 111th Congress, HRC will continue to build support for this legislation and will look to move it as a piece of a larger bill, such as broad tax or health care legislation.
Family and Medical Leave: The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) grants employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave from work to care for a seriously ill different-sex spouse, parent or child. It does not permit leave to care for same-sex partners or spouses, creating an extraordinarily unfair burden. The Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act would address that inequity. In the 111th Congress, HRC will work to increase support for the legislation in the House and acquire a sponsor for an identical bill in the Senate.
Paid Sick Leave: The Healthy Families Act would require most employers to provide at least seven days paid sick leave annually for most employees. Employees could use such leave to attend to their own medical needs or the medical needs of children, parents, spouses or another individual “whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.”
Paid FMLA Leave: The Family Leave Insurance Act would expand the FMLA to provide paid leave for all workers to care for their families – including families headed by same-sex couples. In the 111th Congress, HRC will continue to work with coalition allies to help move these bills forward.
Guaranteed Access to COBRA: Federal law requires employers to give their former employees the opportunity to continue their employer-provided health insurance coverage by paying a premium. Yet, while an increasing number of employers – including 267 Fortune 500 companies – offer domestic partner benefits, they are not covered under the COBRA law. To guarantee lesbian and gay couples equal security in health benefits under COBRA, HRC supports eliminating the definition of “qualified beneficiary” from the COBRA statute, instead requiring employers to provide continuation coverage to any beneficiaries covered under the employee’s benefits plan. In the 111th Congress, HRC will continue to educate members of Congress on this issue and work to ensure that any appropriate legislative vehicles include this important change.
Social Security: Social Security provides the sole means of support for many elderly Americans, and crucial assistance to the surviving children of deceased workers and the surviving parents who care for them. All working Americans contribute to this program, but gay and lesbian Americans are denied surviving spouse and parent benefits. Because the federal government does not recognize even lawful marriages between same-sex couples, surviving children of gay and lesbian parents are denied benefits surviving parent benefits. And because over 60% of children raised by lesbian and gay couples live in jurisdictions without second-parent adoption, many are strangers under law to their parents, and are thus denied surviving child benefits. In the 111th Congress, HRC will continue to work with Congress to address this inequity in a variety of ways, including through legislation to include same-sex partners in all Social Security benefits. HRC has also crafted a legislative solution specifically for surviving children of lesbian and gay couples who are denied access to many benefits. This legislation has not yet been introduced, and HRC continues to work with Congressional allies to ensure it is added to an appropriate piece of legislation.
Back to TopWorkplace Protections
- Enact a Fully-Inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act
After 15 years, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act had its first successful vote Congress in 2007, passing the House by a vote of 235-184. The same year, a version of ENDA covering both sexual orientation and gender identity was introduced for the first time, gaining 184 co-sponsors in the House. With increased numbers of supportive members in both houses of Congress and wider recognition of the merits of transgender inclusion, HRC believes that passage of a fully inclusive ENDA during the 111th Congress is possible. President Obama has pledged to work with us to make that victory achievable and to sign the bill into law. HRC is committed to an intensive grassroots campaign to build support for a fully-inclusive bill.
Back to TopHealth
- Pass the Early Treatment for HIV Act
- Work to pass the Responsible Education About Life Act
- Ensure Equal Opportunity for LGBT Americans and People With HIV in Health Care Reform
Early Treatment for HIV: Under current law, most people living with HIV are only able to qualify for Medicaid after they become disabled and eligible for Supplemental Security Income. Consequently, people with asymptomatic HIV infection are ineligible for the Medicaid coverage needed to preserve their health until they have progressed to full-blown AIDS. The Early Treatment for HIV Act would permit state Medicaid programs to cover low-income, HIV- positive Americans before they develop AIDS. In the 111th Congress, HRC will continue to work to expand support for ETHA and push for it adoption, including as part of a larger effort to reform our nation’s health care system.
Scientifically-Accurate Education: Under the Bush Administration, federal funding exists only for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, which have been repeatedly proven inaccurate and ineffective and, by design, exclude and demean LGBT youth. HRC is working to pass the Responsible Education About Life Act (REAL), which would create a federal grant program for comprehensive sex education. We are also working to lift ideologically-driven restrictions on federally funded HIV education and prevention programs, which subject millions of Americans to the risks of unscientific and ineffective abstinence-only sex and health education. The nation’s taxpayer dollars must be spent on prevention and treatment programs based on sound science, not ideology. In the 111th Congress, HRC will continue to work to expand support for REAL and push for its adoption, including as part of a larger effort to reform our nation’s health care system.
Health Care Reform: As health care reform takes center stage, HRC will work to ensure that the critical needs of LGBT people and couples, as well as people with HIV/AIDS, are part of those health proposals.
Back to TopMilitary Service
- Establish a Timetable and Plan to Repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
In 2008, Congress held its first hearing to assess the damage wrought by the wrong-headed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy. With a president who supports repeal, and increasing public sentiment in favor of open service by lesbians and gays, DADT will not stand. In the 111th Congress, HRC will continue to build support for the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (MREA), which would replace DADT with a policy of nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation. And we will urge President Obama to direct the Pentagon to establish a clear plan for implementing a repeal, and fully integrating openly lesbian, gay and bisexual service members into the armed forces, as quickly as feasible.
Back to TopEducation
- Support Efforts to pass the Safe Schools Improvement Act
First introduced in the 109th Congress, the Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA) would address the pervasive problem of bullying of LGBT students by amending the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act. It would require schools and districts to ensure that their codes of conduct specifically prohibit bullying and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and require states to include LGBT bullying and harassment data in their needs assessments reporting. In the 111th Congress, HRC will continue to work with a broad coalition of groups to advance this legislation.
Back to TopImmigration
- Work to pass the Uniting American Families Act
Under current law, U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents may sponsor their different-sex spouses and other immediate family members for immigration. But same-sex partners are not eligible, causing thousands of lesbian and gay bi-national couples to be kept or torn apart. And because immigration is regulated at the federal level, even couples who have entered into marriages, civil unions or other legally-recognized relationships in the citizen partner’s home state are not recognized for spousal sponsorships. The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) would remedy this injustice.
Conclusion
In the midst of the worst recession in decades, two wars, and a health care crisis, Congress has a full agenda in the years ahead. A wealth of progressive legislation, blocked in the past eight years, will compete for Congressional and Presidential attention. Within these realities, HRC will work vigorously to ensure that the rights and concerns of LGBT Americans are at the forefront of the national agenda.