Benefits June 29, 2004

NYC City Council Overrides Bloomberg Domestic Partner Veto

June 29, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - HR officials of companies doing business with New York City may soon be required to offer domestic partner benefits.
Reported by

The New York City Council overrode Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto of a bill that requires firms doing business with the city to offer domestic partner benefits. The Council approved the initial bill in May, which was then vetoed by the mayor earlier this month, according to an Associated Press report.

The bill requires employers with city contracts of $100,000 or more to provide the same health insurance and other benefits to employees with domestic partners as they provide to employees with spouses. The legislation, to take effect in 120 days, would apply only to new and renewed city contracts.

Bloomberg is not taking the Council’s actions lightly, threatening to sue the body to reinstate his previous veto.“We should not be using our procurement policies to push social issues no matter how much we believe in them,” Bloomberg told the Associated Press.

«