After debating for months how to make providing health care benefits for the same-sex domestic partners of employees less of a tax burden — federal law, which doesn’t tax married couple’s shared benefits, makes no concession for gay couples, whose relationships it doesn’t recognize — Syracuse University has found a solution: It will give $1,000 to each gay staffer participating in the program.
That is: Not only does the school offer gay employees shared partner benefits, it’s paying for the cost of the federal government’s discrimination. The move is described as the first of its kind in higher ed.
CHIP1218
I’m sure someone monitoring this site is beaming with some alumni pride…
My boyfriend is still waiting to see if he gets accepted to Syracuse for his PhD, this obviously adds to my pro list on why Syracuse is better than the other places he’s considering.
It’s a great week to be a fan of things Central New York!
Rob Tisinai
As much as this will outrage conservatives, it’s still probably not enough, especially since this bonus will itself be taxed. I calculated the federal tax impact of adding my partner to my employer’s health insurance and found I’d pay $1849.56 more in federal taxes than if I were straight-married.
That’s take-home pay. I figured out that it’s equivalent to a $3500 salary cut ($3500 is what I have to make to compensate for the lost $1849.56 in take-home pay).
A $3500 salary cut.
Details here:
http://wakingupnow.com/blog/3500-paycut-2
AmberV
I love my school. GO ORANGE!
Brian Stout
As a Syracuse alum with a minor in LGBT studies, I’m so proud of my school for yet another bold move in the right direction. Kudos to Chancellor Nancy Cantor who surely was a part of this. She’s a smart and fearless ally who has literally turned the University upside-down for the better since she took over. Syracuse continues to lead the way in higher education when it comes to the LGBT community, from the queer sexuality (QSX) course offerings to the dedicated LGBT Resource center with paid full-time staff to the inclusive policies.
tinkerbell
@Brian Stout: I’m a Virginia Tech alum, and I used to hate you guys for sports, but all I can now say is “GOOOOO ORANGE!” SU hit a home run with me on this one.