Veto any effort to strike down benefits for domestic partners
Gimenez said he would veto an effort to strike down benefits currently offered by the county allowing its unmarried employees to buy health insurance for their partners, and for the couples to visit each other in jail and in the hospital.
Sources:
Miami Herald, "Robaina, Gimenez debate for the last time"
Subjects: Diversity, Gays and Lesbians, Government regulation
No efforts yet to get rid of domestic partner benefits
Updated: Monday, June 25th, 2012 | By Amy Sherman
In the final mayoral debate in June 2011 days before the election, Carlos Gimenez vowed to protect domestic partner benefits.
Specifically Gimenez said he would veto an effort to strike down benefits currently offered by the county allowing its unmarried employees to buy health insurance for their partners, and for the couples to visit each other in jail and in the hospital.
"I will exercise my veto and veto it,” Gimenez said, according to a Miami Herald article about the debate. "I think it's the right thing to do.”
It was a rare moment of a clear policy difference between Gimenez and his mayoral rival Julio Robaina. The Christian Family Coalition had endorsed Robaina days before the debate and when pressed during the debate, Robaina said he would probably favor a repeal if commissioners initiated it.
Gimenez was one of the commissioners to grant the benefits for domestic partners. On May 20, 2008, the county commission including then-commissioner Gimenez voted 8-4 to adopt an ordinance entitling domestic partners to visitation rights at healthcare, correctional and juvenile facilities, among other benefits.
The county had 1,299 active registered domestic partnerships -- each one consists of two people -- as of June 7, 2012.
No proposal to strike down those benefits reached commissioners as of June 6 so we will leave this as a promise that is Not Yet Rated.
Sources:
Miami-Dade County, Commission minutes, May 20, 2008
Miami-Dade County, Domestic Partnerships information, Accessed March 8, 2011
Miami Herald"s Gay South Florida blog, "Gimenez, Robaina debate, split over domestic partner benefits for Miami-Dade County employees,” June 24, 2011
Interview, Suzy Trutie, Miami-Dade County spokeswoman, March 8, 2012
Interview, Alejandra Castro-Nuñez, spokeswoman for Miami-Dade County Sustainability, Planning, and Economic Enhancement Department, March 8 and June 7, 2012
We want to hear your suggestions and comments. Email the Florida Truth-O-Meter with feedback and with claims you'd like to see checked. If you send us a comment, we'll assume you don't mind us publishing it unless you tell us otherwise.
