Monday, February 23, 1998
Bill may force UCs to fund benefits for partnerships
Knight’s proposal sets back, but would not end, program
By Brian Fishman
Daily Bruin Contributor
UC domestic partnership benefits may be destroyed shortly after
getting off the ground.
A measure in the state senate, authored by Sen. William Knight,
R-Palmdale, would not eliminate domestic partnership benefits, but
would end state funding for them.
"The bill would not prevent these disbursements, but the
university would have to raise their own money," said Andy Putno, a
spokesman for Knight.
The proposed act requires that UCs find funding themselves.
Perhaps by "raising tuition," Putno said.
Domestic partners are scheduled to receive benefits next fall.
Such disbursements would cost the UCs $20 million per year, he
said.
But, gay rights activists are fearful this bill’s effects may
reach far beyond the UC system.
"The most important thing this bill does is provide a chilling
effect for all institutions providing domestic partnership
benefits," said Ronnie Sanlo, director of the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender Campus Resource Center.
Knight claims that bill SB 1484 is needed to ensure the UC
Regents do not usurp the public’s authority. He claims the general
public does not support domestic partnership disbursements.
"The legislature has declined to provide taxpayer dollars for
these types of programs. The Regents are backdooring a policy the
Senate would not enact," said Putno.
But, the reason Knight authored this bill is not in response to
public outcry, said Ronnie Sanlo, Director of the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender Campus Resource Center (LGBT).
"If they didn’t have homosexual issues, they’d have a hard time
fundraising," Sanlo said.
The bill’s chances of becoming law are unclear. There is
opposition to the bill even in the senate education committee.
Tom Hayden, D-Los Angeles, an education committee member, will
surely fight the bill, said Stephanie Reubin, a Hayden
spokesman.
Yet, Knight does have supporters in Sacramento. His aides
claimed that the bill is in line with Governor Wilson’s policy.
UCSF Labor leader Karen MacLeod denounced the policy, but agreed
that Wilson will support the bill.
"I would drop dead if he doesn’t fully support this bill," she
said.
MacLeod noted that if Wilson supports the measure, it has a
better chance of passing.
She insisted that even if the bill does not pass, it may force
UCs to hold off implementation until deliberations on the bill are
complete.
MacLeod also claimed that Knight is a bigot.
"Senator Knight is homophobic, our equivalent of Jesse Helms. He
believes homosexuals should have no rights," MacLeod said.
Many advocates say that Knight’s new bill is just
discrimination.
Several years ago Knight authored a bill that would have voided
out-of-state gay marriages in California.
Knight’s office insisted that Knight’s motivations are based
purely on public opinion and not bigotry.