Bravo Virginia for finally catching up with other states and corporations and offering what should be a basic benefit for employees. The current policies tie the hands of state businesses and universities in terms of being able to attract and recruit top employees. The ability for people to have their families covered on their health insurance is a basic benefit that should be applied equitably to all families. I know of people who would not consider jobs in Virginia because of the state's inequitable benefits system. Given the passage of the constitutional ammendment, I can only imagine that the state's universities will have a more difficult time recruiting diverse faculty in the coming years unless the state makes some moves towards rectifying at least some of the policy-level inequities. Although I believe that this is a basic human rights issue, even for those who disagree with the notion that families formed by LGBT individuals deserve the same rights as families formed by heterosexual couples, I would hope that you could see it as a business and economic issue. Enacting this policy will not cost tax payers anything, as employees would cover the cost of their partner's premium. Yet NOT enacting this policy will eventually cost Virginians a great deal as our state businesses and institutions of higher education will not be able to compete equally with others on the national stage. If Virginia, which currently has some of the top ranked state schools in the country, wants to keep its status, it will need to have policies that attract the best and the brightest employees regardless of their sexual orientation. I applaude the state for making this move and encourage the state's policymakers to move forward with this action.

Nancy