Senators join fight for UA domestic partner benefits

Equity, a group of 12 University of Arizona faculty, staff and graduate students, formed in 1997 to push for health-care benefits for UA employees' live-in partners.

Arizona Sen. Ruth Solomon, a Democrat, said she would support domestic partner benefits for UA employees.

"Whether or not a piece of legislation like this would pass is not the question - it's always healthy to raise an issue and debate an issue," said Solomon, the senator for the UA's district.

Because UA employees work for the state, live-in partner benefits would require a change in state law. Currently, UA employees must produce marriage and birth certificates to receive benefits for their partners.

Sandy Fagan, co-chairwoman of Equity and assistant director of the UA Affirmative Action Office, said the group is planning to make a formal attempt to get legislative support. She said it could take until the year 2000 before the initiative is up and running.

"This is an issue of equity among employees - it's important to take this out of the realm of morality," Fagan said. "You're effectively procuring paying one individual less than another."

Solomon said some Republican leaders are opposed to homosexuality issues.

"We have some members that are indeed homophobic," she said.

Arizona Sen. Elaine Richardson, a Democrat, echoed Solomon's support for domestic partner benefits but said it is doubtful such legislation would pass.

"Most of our congressmen are very far right," Richardson said.

Richardson said the Employee Discrimination Bill she tried to bring before the Senate was not well received. Senate leadership killed the bill, which would have prohibited employer discrim-ination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.

"This is a very homophobic and con-servative state," Richardson said.

In May, Richardson added the employee discrimination language as an amendment to another piece of legislation, but Senate leadership "shot down" the entire bill.

She said just raising the issue was "quite an accomplishment - we've never gotten that far."

Arizona Board of Regents President Judy Gignac said no one had ever brought the issue to the regent's attention and she was not optimistic about its future.

"Any time you take a look at an issue that would require legislative action you have to look at the political reality," Gignac said. "The political reality is - it's just not going to go anywhere."

Gignac said it's unlikely the Legislature would approve domestic partner benefits "unless there is a fundamental shift in the political philosophy of the state of Arizona."

The UA, however, has changed some policies within its jurisdiction to include domestic partners, Fagan said.

Those changes came about in 1993 after Equity prodded officials to alter the policies in their control.

The changes included:

The Bereavement Leave policy was changed to include three days of paid leave after the death of any "person" who is a permanent member of the employee's household.

UA employees were allowed to use accrued paid sick-leave days to care for a member of their "immediate household."

The Child Care Leave of Absence policy, which covers absences for periods of a year or less to care for a sick child, was revised to include a child who is a permanent member of the employee's household.

Library and Student Recreation Center privileges were also extended to UA employees' partners.

"The issue of health care was too massive - much too involved to tackle then," Fagan said. "It takes time."

UA President Peter Likins said he has never engaged in "speculation about the political acceptability" of partner benefits.

"When we consider all the competing needs at the University of Arizona, this benefit has never risen to the point of serious consideration," Likins stated in an e-mail interview.

While the focus of domestic partner benefits is often on same-sex partners, the "cost of such benefits would be associated primarily with partners of the opposite gender," he stated.

Michael Lafleur can be reached via e-mail at Michael.Lafleur@wildcat.arizona.edu.