A Sorry End for the MERI Platform

Thanks to the hard work, lobbying, and wheeling and dealing of MERI’s outstanding coordinating committee members, the RI House passed S 619, which would allow state employees and others with public pensions to make their domestic partner the beneficiary of their pension upon death; the bill now waits for the Governor to take action. I was out of town when it happened, and the transcript of the night isn’t available yet, but we will publish the votes when they become available. Suffice it to say that the vote was contentious, there was much debate, and even speculation that it was nearly amended with a DOMA. The remainder of our platform failed to get voted on, a truly outrageous outcome for a legislature that has repeatedly said, “it’s not the rights, it’s the word ‘marriage’”.

According to all reports, House Majority Leader Gordon Fox, and Representatives Al Gemma, John McCauley, and Art Handy deserve huge kudos for standing up not only for this bill, but for fairness, equality, marriage, and the rest of the bills that our legislature failed to pass this year.

If you’re not outraged at the failure of the rest of the MERI platform, you should be. We gave our legislators opportunities to stand up for dignity and legal protections of all families, by granting 6 specific rights to same-sex couples and their families. The bills that deal with things that we all will face – illness, infirmity, old age, and death – did not even recieve the courtesy of committee votes, and a bill which would provide some financial security only for those with public pensions nearly was derailed by debate.

THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.

Stay tuned for group action; and please call your legislators and let them know that you were disappointed by the failure of the majority of the MERI platform…..