Seattle (KCPQ) – Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn is expected to announce new benefits for gay and lesbian city employees who get married under Washington’s new marriage equality laws.
According to reports, gay and lesbian city employees will receive a monthly stipend to cover healthcare expenses for their spouse. McGinn and city council members are expected to announce the plan at a press conference Wednesday.
The city already offers health coverage to same-sex couples, and the money will go to offset federal income and payroll taxes that gay couples must pay on their health coverage due to the Defense of Marriage Act. Same sex couples are taxed at around 15 percent for the coverage, where opposite sex couples are not subject to the taxes on their healthcare benefits.
McGinn hinted at the new plan for allowances during a press conference Tuesday for Seattle seawall construction updates.
“If the federal government has an unjust law, I don’t think it’s fair to punish our workers who are following all the rules,” McGinn said. “So those are the types of things that we are looking at, but we’ll have an announcement tomorrow and we’ll go through that.”
More than anything, McGinn said, he wanted to be fair to all employees.
“We have a statement here from the City of Seattle and voters of the state of Washington that’s not yet reflected at the federal level and that’s something that I think we are duty bound to respond to in a meaningful way to be fair to our own employees.”
According to Mynorthwest.com, gay couples will receive an allowance of $90 a month. Currently, there are 150 city employees who have a same-sex spouse enrolled in the city-provided health plan. The benefit to gay couples will cost the taxpayers an estimated $162,000 a year, Mynorthwest reported, with expenses already worked into the city’s 2013-2014 budget.
