New York City -
New York City council overwhelmingly approved legislation Wednesday to require all city contractors to provide equal employment benefits to all employees, whether they are married or in domestic partner relationships.
The legislation requires contractors that do more than $100,000 of business each year with NYC to offer the equal benefits. It is expected to make health coverage available to tens of thousands of additional people in the New York City region and hundreds of thousands across the country.
Council passed the measure on a 43-5 vote.
But despite the big victory, the bill must still overcome the opposition of Mayor Bloomberg before it can become law.
Once a supporter but now an opponent, the Mayor is widely expected to veto the bill when it reaches his desk. That would force the Council into overriding the veto if it wants to enact the legislation. Speaker Gifford Miller and lead sponsor Councilmember Christine Quinn have said this is an action the Council is ready to take.
“The New York City Council came together today and said with a strong voice that all workers and their families should be treated equally by employers and that continued use of taxpayer dollars to fund discriminatory practices by NYC contractors in the area of employee benefits is no longer acceptable, said Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle.
The bill was first introduced on September 23, 2002 with less than a dozen Council sponsors and Mayor Bloomberg’s support for the issue in general, based upon the his response to the Pride Agenda’s 2001 candidate questionnaire when he ran for Mayor.
At the Pride Agenda’s October 2002 Fall Dinner, Mayor Bloomberg surprised the 1000 people in attendance by telling them he no longer supported the issue and would oppose the bill.
“Trying to use the City’s procurement dollars to advance social issues is just not productive,” said Bloomberg. He also cited a decrease in competition for contracts and a resulting increase in the cost of services.
Similar legislation is already in effect in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Oakland, and the State of California.
by Doug Windsor
365Gay.com Newscenter
New York Bureau
©365Gay.com® 2004
The legislation requires contractors that do more than $100,000 of business each year with NYC to offer the equal benefits. It is expected to make health coverage available to tens of thousands of additional people in the New York City region and hundreds of thousands across the country.
Council passed the measure on a 43-5 vote.
But despite the big victory, the bill must still overcome the opposition of Mayor Bloomberg before it can become law.
Once a supporter but now an opponent, the Mayor is widely expected to veto the bill when it reaches his desk. That would force the Council into overriding the veto if it wants to enact the legislation. Speaker Gifford Miller and lead sponsor Councilmember Christine Quinn have said this is an action the Council is ready to take.
“The New York City Council came together today and said with a strong voice that all workers and their families should be treated equally by employers and that continued use of taxpayer dollars to fund discriminatory practices by NYC contractors in the area of employee benefits is no longer acceptable, said Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle.
The bill was first introduced on September 23, 2002 with less than a dozen Council sponsors and Mayor Bloomberg’s support for the issue in general, based upon the his response to the Pride Agenda’s 2001 candidate questionnaire when he ran for Mayor.
At the Pride Agenda’s October 2002 Fall Dinner, Mayor Bloomberg surprised the 1000 people in attendance by telling them he no longer supported the issue and would oppose the bill.
“Trying to use the City’s procurement dollars to advance social issues is just not productive,” said Bloomberg. He also cited a decrease in competition for contracts and a resulting increase in the cost of services.
Similar legislation is already in effect in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Oakland, and the State of California.
by Doug Windsor
365Gay.com Newscenter
New York Bureau
©365Gay.com® 2004
This article originally appeared on 365gay.com. Republished with permission.
