The Morgan Hill City Council unanimously passed a resolution on
Wednesday to provide health benefit coverage for the domestic
partner of an employee or retiree.
The Morgan Hill City Council unanimously passed a resolution on Wednesday to provide health benefit coverage for the domestic partner of an employee or retiree.
“I think that it’s something that is long overdue,” Mayor Dennis Kennedy said Monday. “Most business have recognized the need for this for a long time. IBM, one of the big corporate giants, has provided benefits for domestic partners for many, many years.”
The cost to the city is expected to be minimal. According to city staff, other cities that have chosen to provide the benefit report “minimal impact” to the budget.
The benefit will go into effect Sept. 1.
The state will register same-sex domestic partnerships between 18 years or older and opposite sex domestic partners when both people are over the age of 62.
“This was the right thing for the city to do,” Kennedy said. “I’m very supportive of this action.”
City Councilman Larry Carr also expressed support for the decision.
“I am glad we’re offering it,” he said. “We have to consider what is the fair thing to do, what is the right thing to do, what is the just thing to do, and I think this is all those things. We have great people that work for the city. A crisis that a lot of local public agencies are going through now is how to recruit and retaining good quality employees. This decision gives us something more for our employees.”
Assembly Bill 26, which gives California cities the option to extend these benefits to their employees, passed in 1999.
Mary Kay Fisher, human resources director for the city, said employees who want to sign up before the benefits go into effect can do so. The employee must register with the Secretary of State by filling out a form and submitting it with a $10 fee. The form may be downloaded from the secretary of state’s website, www.ss.ca.gov/business/sf/forms/sf-dp1.pdf.
After registering with the state, the employee will receive a declaration of domestic partnership, which the city must have a copy of.
Fisher said she is familiar with this type of benefit from a prior position in Washington.
The domestic partner benefit was one of 19 items on the council’s consent agenda. Votes are made on the consent agenda without discussion.
