At the March 5, 2011, meeting of the directors of the Board of Pensions, Special Committee on Domestic Partner Benefits Chair Frank James reported that the committee has met three times, will be conducting listening sessions at the Regional Benefits Consultations, and plans to make a progress report to the board at its October 2011 meeting.
He explained that the General Assembly’s action on Item 18-06 added a request that the board’s consideration of extending coverage to same-gender domestic partners include some form of relief of conscience to be implemented simultaneously.
“The committee’s discussions have convinced us that diligent consideration of the many issues presented will take more time than initially planned,” James advised.
The committee does not currently anticipate that any formal board action will take place before March 2012 and the board will report to the 220th General Assembly (2012).
If the board acts to extend coverage in response to the overture, any dues increase arising from that decision would not be effective until on or after January 1, 2013.