Mass Legislature's Education Committee
Recommendation Against DOMA

Recently, the Legislature's Joint Committee on Public Service sent the following report to the full legislature. The Majority Report urged the legislature to oppose the DOMA petition.

It is the opinion of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Public Service to oppose this initiative petition.

The supporters of House 4840 claim that they intend to harm no one, only to protect marriage. In reality, this measure will make it illegal - in fact, unconstitutional - for thousands of Massachusetts citizens to receive health insurance, bereavement leave, medical leave, hospital visitation, survivor benefits, and other basic legal protections that families and children need. Because this amendment is inconsistent with the principles on which our Constitution is based, a majority of the members of the Joint Committee on Public Service agree that this initiative should not pass and we urge you to vote no.

This amendment included language that would deny present and potential benefits and protections to thousands of citizens. The prohibition would apply under any circumstances, no matter how compelling the needs for those protections, or how detrimental the consequence to the families and children who lack them. The amendment would make it unconstitutional for some of our citizens to leave work to care for a sick child or to have the right to visit that sick child or a loved one in the hospital, to make medical decisions for them if they are incapacitated, or to include them in their health insurance.

The amendment would make it illegal for some police officers or rescue workers killed in the line of duty to leave survivor benefits to a longtime partner - or even for the survivor to have the unquestioned right to make funeral arrangements. These problems would be as insurmountable for senior citizens as for younger people. This would be constitutionally required and permanent.

A constitutional amendment that bars a segment of society from enjoying the rights and privileges afford to others is discrimination. Discrimination sanctioned under law is wrong and unacceptable. In addition, it raised issues under the United States Constitution.

The effects of this amendment would be far reaching. It would be bad for business and bad for labor. Massachusetts would not only allow discrimination, but require it, forbidding employers from granting key benefits to their employees, hampering employers' efforts to recruit and retain workers by offering fair, competitive benefits, and making it unconstitutional to bargain collectively for important employee rights and benefits. Furthermore, concerns about the manner in which signatures were gathered for this ballot initiative call into question the fairness and legitimacy of the process itself.

Our is a distinguished history and we believe that the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts should be a document of which all our citizens can be proud. We urge you to vote no on House 4840.