Peekskill to consider gay partner benefits

By BRIAN J. HOWARD
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: January 19, 2005)

PEEKSKILL — Angered by Eastchester's decision to stop offering medical benefits to town employees' domestic partners, one Peekskill councilman wants his community to start doing so.

William Schmidt proposed last night that the city extend to the domestic partners of city employees the same coverage offered to married employees' spouses. Only same-sex couples would qualify, Schmidt said, since under New York state law, they cannot marry, while heterosexual couples who live together could choose to marry.

"The current situation is discriminatory, because what the current situation says is, basically, only heterosexual employees can enroll in the family plan because you have to be married," Schmidt said yesterday. "What this does is it makes the entire benefits plan nondiscriminatory."

Schmidt, a Republican and the only openly gay elected official in Westchester, said Eastchester's repeal of its domestic-partner benefits policy prompted him to act. In 2000, Eastchester became the first municipality in Westchester to offer the benefits, and this month it gained the added distinction of being the first to repeal them.

In the mid-1990s, IBM Corp. and NYNEX Corp. became the first private companies to offer such benefits locally, and by last year, 40 percent of the companies on the Fortune 500 did so. Westchester County has offered them since 1999, as do many school districts. Greenburgh is the only town in the county that currently does.

The issue has become less and less controversial, according to one observer.

"People get a little freaked out sometimes," said Laura Newman, the county's liaison to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. "I really don't know why. It's nothing near offering the benefit and responsibility of marriage. It's really about equal employment. It's about treating employees fairly."

Schmidt's proposal would require employees to register with the County Clerk's Office to be eligible. The county created a domestic-partner registry in 2002 to allow couples to establish domestic partnership for the purpose of seeking benefits from their employers, claiming insurance settlements or attaining hospital visitation rights. The registry is open to anyone regardless of sexual orientation.

Newman said limiting benefits only to employees in same-sex relationships could lead to discrimination claims.

That concerns Councilwoman Catherine Pisani, a Republican, who said she otherwise supports Schmidt's proposal.

"I just want to see what the end result would be and if it would open a whole can of worms, as far as domestic partners," Pisani said. Council Democrats Drew Claxton and Don Bennett also support the measure.

Individual employee medical coverage costs the city $5,741; if a spouse is added, the cost jumps to $12,164. Schmidt said few employees are likely to qualify, minimizing the cost. In fact, less than 2 percent of employees typically take advantage of domestic-partner benefits, Newman said. Also, a couple must live together for a year to qualify for the registry.

Peekskill resident Tim Cravens, 38, was gratified to hear of the proposal. Cravens, the treasurer of Log Cabin Republicans of the Hudson Valley, a group that promotes acceptance of gays within the Republican Party, said gay couples won't find full equality until they can marry. This is a different issue, though, he added, one the city ought to be commended for considering.

"Whatever it might cost the city," Cravens said, "the fact that Peekskill is perceived as a very open, tolerant place is likely to attract new businesses there, and we might actually increase the tax base."

Reach Brian Howard at bhoward@thejournalnews.com or 914-666-6177.Reach Brian Howard at bhoward@thejournalnews.com or 914-666-6177.