Alaska Governor Uses First Veto to Protect Same-sex Partner Benefits
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin nixed a bill that would deny public employee benefits to same-sex couples, in the first veto of her administration.
The Associated Press reports that the governor said she rejected the bill despite her disagreement with a state Supreme Court order directing the state to offer benefits to same-sex partners of state employees.
Palin said in a media statement that she vetoed the bill on the advice of her new attorney general who said it is unconstitutional.
"Signing this bill would be in direct violation of my oath of office," Palin said in her media release Thursday night.
The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the bill barring regulations implementing same-sex benefits during a November special session. The measure would have prevented the commissioner of administration from taking action on the new benefits plan.
Rep. John Coghill, R-North Pole, sponsored the bill told the Anchorage Daily News in a phone interview Thursday night that Palin, also a Republican, faced a constitutional dilemma but he’s still disappointed by her veto.
"I would have like to have seen her stand up to the courts," Coghill said to the Daily News.
The Supreme Court ruled Dec. 19 that the state has to offer the benefits starting Jan. 1.
"It is the Governor’s intention to work with the legislature and to give the people of Alaska an opportunity to express their wishes and intentions whether these benefits should continue," the statement from Palin’s administration said.
The issue goes back to 1999 when the ACLU and nine couples filed a lawsuit challenging the lack of benefits for same-sex couples employed by the state and the municipality of Anchorage.
