0 City Council unanimously passes equal benefits legislation

PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill that requires some city contractors to offer benefits to same-sex couples and other domestic partners.

The legislation, sponsored by Councilman Bruce Kraus, who is openly gay, would apply to companies with city contracts of $250,000 or more. Companies would have a year to comply, and the bill offers limited exemptions.

“It really is a show of unity, if you will, that the city of Pittsburgh stands firmly with a diversified, very broad-based workforce,” Kraus said.

Benefits would include but not be limited to health, vision and dental insurance, bereavement leave and family medical leave.

Christine Bryan, with the Delta Foundation -- a leading LGBT organization in Western Pennsylvania, said even though the state doesn’t recognize gay marriage, people were celebrating on Liberty Avenue when the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act.

“Pennsylvania is coming along, but we have a long way to go,” Bryan said. “What City Council did is telling its contractors it doesn’t believe in discrimination against employees. And if you want to do business with the city, you need to treat everyone equally.”

Kraus said he doesn’t think the law to include everyone will be challenged legally as excluding any companies from doing work with the city.

"We fully vetted this through our law department,” Kraus said. “They are very comfortable with the language. Philadelphia did it about a year and a half ago and hasn't had any challenges."

Pittsburgh is the 13th city in the nation to pass this legislation.

Channel 11’s news exchange partners at TribLIVE contributed to this report.