Whitmer Responds to Confusion over Republicans' Ban on Domestic Partner Benefits

After rushing through surprise bills, Senate and House Republicans at odds over how far-reaching their discriminatory legislation is

Lansing - Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) issued the following statement today regarding the confusion between Senate and House Republicans over who all their discriminatory legislation banning health care benefits for domestic partners of public employees will affect. In a surprise move yesterday, Senate Republicans pushed through House Bills 4770 and 4771, which effectively prohibit any local governing body from establishing their own policy allowing the provision of health care to employees in a domestic partnership. Yesterday, Senator Mark Jansen (R-Gaines Township) amended the bill on the Senate floor to supposedly exempt university employees from its effects. In finalizing the legislation today, House Republicans rebuked those claims and said the bills have no exemptions.

“It seems like legislative Republicans need to get their stories straight. I don’t know if Sen. Jansen misled the public yesterday, whether he was misled himself, or whether one of their caucuses simply doesn’t understand the bill they are passing, but any one of those explanations should raise a red flag,” said Whitmer.”After springing these bills on us yesterday and ramming them through, it’s clear Senate Republicans didn’t do their due diligence and fully understand these bills. This kind of ‘gotcha’ and haphazard legislating is deplorable, especially when these bills have real and immediate consequences for Michigan citizens. I think this legislation is discriminatory and don’t support it in any iteration, but it is unsettling to say the least that my Senate Republican colleagues are blindly passing bills without a good grasp on their effects.”