On Thursday, Dec. 22, Governor Rick Snyder signed a bill banning Michigan public employees from providing health insurance, as well as other fringe benefits, to their domestic partners. The law has taken immediate effect, but will not affect union workers until their contracts expire.
“Public universities are said to be exempt, but there was language going around that said it wouldn’t, and that each case would end up in court,” said Mary Larkin, program coordinator for the LGBT center on campus. “We are really disappointed. It’s a step back for the state. Why would we be passing a law that discriminates against a group?”
The bill is said to affect employees of public schools and local governments, but not state civil service employees or workers of public universities.
Public universities are said to be protected under the State Constitution, which grants the Michigan Civil Service Commission the authority to distribute funds and benefits in whatever way they see fit. With so many protests from faculty and staff of the public universities, Eastern Michigan University, along with all other public universities in the state, are currently not affected.
“Although this legislation doesn’t affect private employers, it does set a tone that indicates that gay and lesbian people deserve second-class citizenship in Michigan,” said Suzanne Gray, assistant professor of information literacy and Women’s and Gender studies librarian on campus. “Businesses who want to attract and support equal rights for LGBT people may be hesitant to set up shop in Michigan.”
Although Governor Snyder considers public universities safe from the bill, many workers in Michigan are suffering the disadvantages. Several families affected need their benefits to support sick family members, while employees in heterosexual marriages are allowed to provide health benefits to parents, cousins, uncles, etc.
“All of Michigan public universities were opposed to this legislation,” said Leigh Greden, executive director of the government community relations on campus. “Throughout the process we worked with the legislator and Governor’s office to express our concerns. We do not believe the law as passed applies to EMU or any of the public universities.”
The law does however affect most homosexual relationships and families, and isn’t limited to their community.
Many heterosexual couples that choose to live in a civil union, are considered domestic partners, and are also affected. Although they might simply marry to alleviate their dilemma, many see this bill as just another way to deprive same-sex partners of their civil rights.
“Not being legally married does not mean that partners should not be able to support each other financially,” said sophmore Tiyanna Peterson, studying Communications and Theatre Arts. “To even propose a law as overtly discriminatory as this one is a new low, even for Rick Snyder.”
On Thursday, Jan. 5, just two weeks after the bill was signed, The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Michigan filed a federal lawsuit to fight the bill and have it removed.
“We believe the law is discriminatory. The language in the bill quite obviously points out same-sex groups can’t meet any of the eligibility criteria, as they are not allowed to be married, and their marriages are not considered legal,” Staff Attorney for the LGBT project of the ACLU Jay Kaplan pointed out.
“It’s singling them out purposefully and goes against the Constitution, and while they claim to be trying to cut cost, this law expands the amount of people who can receive the benefits and singles out same-sex relationships. We are hoping the court will knock this down as unconstitutional, as it is ripping the civil liberties of specific individuals apart. It’s going to be hard for these people to find health care and quite costly for the families who have lost their benefits.”
The bill doesn’t specifically mention homosexuals, but most people opposed to the new law seem to be understanding it as directly oppressing the gay community.
“We think it’s illegal. Gay couples do not have the option to get married, so although the phrase ‘domestic partner’ is used, it’s clear they’re being singled out,” said Kary L. Moss, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan.
Snyder’s administrators hold firm on the idea of cutting cost. It has been high priority to restore the state from debt and cut corners. Jan. 1 marked a year in office for Snyder who ran for office after spending a career outside of politics in business and finance. The self-professed “tough nerd” began his career in accounting, thus the interest in lowering Michigan’s debt.
“Obviously the majority of Republicans are against the gay and lesbian community and this bill negatively affects their community. That’s what you get when people elect a Republican for governor,” said junior Sieanna Shields, who is currently minoring in political science.
Although the bill is said to save money, researchers have found that usage of the insurance of domestic partners was a mere one percent of the national health care budget. Unlike married couples, domestic couples also pay taxes on their insurance and by denying them, the state is actually losing money.
“The rates are more pricey for domestic partners, because of the added tax, thus most don’t even use the insurance,” Gray said. “Because of the very low participation rates, the savings of eliminating these benefits will be minimal, and in the long run might actually end up being more expensive if lesbian and gay employees, many of whom do not take advantage of these benefits, leave the state and are replaced by heterosexual, married employees with families, who will ultimately add more dependents to the employer’s healthcare plan.”
The bill could in turn cause another fall in the population of the state. More and more families might feel the need to veer off where they’re more “wanted.” This causes money lost, and is in fact the complete opposite of Snyder’s personal goals for Michigan.
According to the press release from ACLU of Michigan, several families are greatly affected by the new law, and thus intend to leave the state like Peter Ways, and his partner of 20 years, Joe Breakey, who also raise a nine-year-old daughter, Aliza, together.
“This is not about politics or ideology for us,” said Ways, an Ann Arbor Public Schools teacher whose partner will lose his benefits. “This is about real families who are facing the real consequences of discriminatory laws. Just like our colleagues whose families will continue to receive health insurance, we want to care for our families.”
