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ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION, April 27, 2001
72 Marietta Street NW, Atlanta, GA, 30303
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http://www.accessatlanta.com/partners/ajc/epaper/editions/today/local_news_a39ea0f203b0f1d80056.html
DeKalb approves giving benefits to domestic partners
Will Anderson - Staff
DeKalb County will offer health
and life insurance to the partners of gay employees and unmarried couples
under a plan adopted Thursday by the board of commissioners.
Commissioners voted 6-1 to approve
the domestic partner benefits, making DeKalb the first county in Georgia
to offer the package to its employees. The benefits apply to health, dental,
life and vision insurance.
The vote came with little fanfare,
and there was no discussion among commissioners, except over a minor procedural
issue that had nothing to do with the benefits.
Harry Knox, director of the gay
rights Georgia Equality Project, praised the move as a step in the right
direction. He said it's a matter of equal pay for equal work. "It's just
the way gay folks ought to be treated and the way policy ought to be made,"
said Knox, whose group helped draft the DeKalb plan.
Atlanta is the only other local
government in Georgia that offers domestic partner benefits, made possible
after a six-year legal battle. The East Point City Council is considering
a similar plan and could vote on it in May.
The private sector has been a
little quicker to offer domestic partner benefits. Since June, four of
Georgia's biggest employers have done so, including BellSouth, Delta, Atlanta
Gas Light and Coca-Cola, Knox said.
"What it's done for the morale
of employees has been tremendous," Knox said. "It really shows that our
employers care about us."
Elaine Boyer, the sole Republican
on the seven-member DeKalb board, said she voted against the insurance
benefits because it was a campaign promise of DeKalb Chief Executive Officer
Vernon Jones, who took office Jan. 1. Boyer said she also didn't like how
employees would have to swear under oath that their relationship with their
partner meets 14 requirements. Generally speaking, employees must swear
that they have a committed, long-term relationship with their partners
and are not married to someone else.
"Would you want to subject yourself
to answering those things in order to get benefits?" Boyer asked. "I wouldn't."
DeKalb officials estimate about
1 percent of the county's 7,000 employees will apply for the benefits.
If that is correct, it will cost a little less than $200,000 annually.
The total the county pays for health and life insurance benefits for its
employees is about $39 million.
ON THE WEB: Georgia Equality Inc.:
www.georgiaequality.org/