The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act or the DPBO Act (, ) was a U.S. bill that would allow

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federal employees to give their unrecognized same-sex spouses and partners

health insurance Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...

, government

pensions A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

, and other employment related benefits and obligations that married heterosexual federal employees enjoy by being married and heterosexual.

110th Congress

The House version of the bill was originally introduced December 19, 2007 by Rep.

Tammy Baldwin Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Wisconsin since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms in the Wisconsin Stat ...

(D-WI). The bill garnered 90 cosponsors and was referred to the

Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties The Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government is one of six subcommittees of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing comm ...

but was not acted upon. The Senate version of the bill was also introduced on December 19, 2007, by Sen.

Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party (Uni ...

(I-CT). The bill was referred to the

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs The United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is the chief oversight committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over matters related to the Department of Homeland Security and other homeland s ...

of which Lieberman himself was the chair. A hearing was held on September 24, 2008, with testimony coming from the deputy director of the

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, an executive at IBM, the president of the

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and two others. Though it garnered 21 Democrats, 1 Republican and 1 Independent as cosponsors, the Senate bill also died when the committee did not vote on it.

111th Congress

The act was reintroduced in the 111th Congress on May 20, 2009. The measure is sponsored by Reps.

(D-WI) &

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (; born Ileana Carmen Ros y Adato, July 15, 1952) is a politician and lobbyist from Miami, Florida, who represented from 1989 to 2019. By the end of her tenure, she was the most senior U.S. Representative from Florida. She wa ...

(R-FL) in the

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and by Sens.

(I-CT) &

Susan Collins Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of Co ...

(R-ME) in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. The legislation has 140 cosponsors in the House and 31 in the Senate as of May 27, 2010. In May 2009, Rep.

Barney Frank Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee ...

told an interviewer from the ''

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'' that he believed supporters of the act "have a shot" at passing the bill. On June 17, 2009, President Obama announced his support for the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act, which he called "crucial legislation that will guarantee these rights for all federal employees." On November 18, 2009, the bill was reported out of the

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the main investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one of the most influential and powerful panels in the ...

by a vote of 23-12. On December 16, 2009, the bill was reported out of the

Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs The United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is the chief oversight committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over matters related to the Department of Homeland Security and other homeland s ...

by an 8-1 vote. Senator Bob Bennett (Junior senator, Utah) was the sole Committee vote against the bill.

112th Congress

The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2011 was approved by voice vote by the

on May 16, 2012.

Legislative history

References

External links

DPBO FactsFull text of Senate bill (PDF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Domestic Partnership Benefits And Obligations Act United States proposed federal LGBT legislation 2008 in LGBT history Proposed legislation of the 111th United States Congress 2009 in LGBT history LGBT rights in the United States Same-sex union legislation in the United States