A Valley legislator has called for the University of Alabama at Birmingham to reverse a recent decision to extend health insurance benefits to same sex partners of employees, an offer the campus says will make it more competitive in recruiting faculty.
State Rep. DuWayne Bridges, R-Valley, called for UAB to rescind the policy change, adding he was researching ways to stop the policy if it is not voluntarily reversed.
“I intend to utilize every means available,” Bridges said on Wednesday.
According to a Birmingham News article, UAB began allowing employees to add same sex partners and their children to health insurance plans this month for coverage beginning in January 2010.
The article also states UAB is the first of the state’s three big schools to make the change, noting UA is studying the option.
Auburn University does not offer benefits to same sex partners of employees nor has there been pressure for it to change its policy, Mike Clardy, director of university communications, said.
A UAB spokeswoman said the change would create a more supportive environment and help the campus compete against other medical schools which offer similar benefits, according to the article. Attempts to contact UAB Wednesday evening were unsuccessful.
Bridges said he was unsure the policy change at UAB would improve recruiting.
Bridges cast the issue as moral and financial, saying the change is contrary to the wishes of Alabama voters and the Legislature’s intent for taxpayer’s money.
“I think the people of Alabama have spoken clear and loud, they don’t want state money used like that,” Bridges said, citing the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment, defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
In a release, Bridges cited a report predicting a $2.2 million shortfall in the UA health insurance fund for 2010.
“The waste of money is just unreal,” Bridges said. “...Especially right now — I can’t imagine what they were thinking.”
Bridges said the money which would be devoted to providing benefits for same-sex partners of employees would be better used to help create jobs and ease unemployment in counties with high unemployment like Chambers County.
Bridges said he has talked with a few other legislators, but has not heard from any of his constituents regarding the UAB policy shift.
But Bridges said his district is a strong supporter of family values and a heterosexual definition of marriage.
“As more people, more senators and representatives, become aware of this I can’t help but think they will share my opinion,” he said. “I certainly feel like I will have plenty of allies.”
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