200 City Employees Would Still Get Benefits Under Proposal

El Paso City Council has unanimously voted to take the first step in making sure the more than 200 unintended city employees, retirees and dependents who are slated to lose their health insurance because of a vaguely worded citizens referendum, will continue to get health benefits.

The voter-passed initiative, put on the ballot by a petition from local religious group, El Paso for Jesus, passed 55 to 45-percent last month. The group has always insisted their only target was to take away the health insurance of gay and unwed partners of city employees. According to city representatives, only 19 employees signed up for those benefits, which were approved by City Council in a budget meeting last year.

The City Attorney has said that because the initiative only mentions city employees, their spouses, and dependent children, more than 200 unintended people will lose their health insurance. If there’s no change, some of those who will lose benefits include retirees who may qualify for benefits through a new employer, elected officials, dependent grandchildren and foster children of city employees.

“A child is scheduled for surgery in the new year and obviosly will not be covered any longer and the diabetic who will no longer have the necessary prescriptions to maintain their health”, said Representative Emma Acosta.

In Tuesday’s meeting, City Rep. Rachel Quintana asked for approval from the council to have the city attorney help her draft an amended ordinance that will protect all current employees and would make the initiative applicable only to new employees.

“There is case law, that people who already receive benefits, will keep their benefits, so going forward, new people who are asking for domestic partners wouldn’t be able to qualify”, Quintana said.

City Council is hoping to act on the amended ordinance before the beginning of the year, when the benefits are scheduled to be rescinded.

There have been questions by residents, and even the president of the El Paso Municipal Police Officers Association as to why city council does not amend the ordinance to only rescind the health insurance of the original targets of the religious group: gay and unwed partners.

“The easy thing to do is to amend it, Tom Brown goes away, his crew goes away, we don’t have to hear it anymore, but I think the worst thing to do is to leave those 15 employees by themselves”, said City Rep. Susie Byrd.

Tom Brown has been the most vocal pastor who mobilized the movement to take away the health insurance of gay and unmarried partners of city employees.

“I know you believe homosexual conduct is moral and healthy, I believe it is immoral and unhealthy… I know you believe that homosexuals are born with characteristics that they cannot change, I believe that that it is just a gender identity crisis”, Brown told city representatives last week.

Councilman Beto O’Rourke is also against amending the ordinance to narrow it down to the supposed intended targets.

“What would be terrible is to start to carve out certain groups and leave for example the gay and lesbian partners of city employees to fend for themselves, who’ve been receiving city employees for the last year who we don’t know what their pre-existing conditions…this way we’re all in the same boat”, he said.

Martin, the police association president, on Tuesday, told council that his organization would sue the city if the representatives didn’t do more to protect city employees and retirees. He also said he knew what where the issue stemmed from.

“The domestic partnership issue was a disguise for gay-bashing, that’s what it comes down to, everyone’s afraid to say it”, he said.

Martin also told Council that he still had doubts that retirees were fully protected because the initiative did not mention them at all.