Following up on a state law that was passed last year as the result of a lawsuit brought by a Secaucus minister, the Hudson County freeholders have agreed to extend health and pension benefits to county employees’ same-sex partners.
In a moving speech, Freeholder Radames Velazquez, who publicly announced last year that he was gay, gave praise to Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise for his taking the lead in the matter and supporting the move.
“It was a brave and important thing to do,” Velazquez said. “This is saying that Hudson County is a welcoming community for the gay community.”
Velazquez called it a matter of dignity and said gay and lesbian couples can have more dignity thanks to the passing of the resolution.
“I don’t know how to convey how I felt growing up feeling different, and like other people didn’t care, as if I did not have the same rights as everyone else,” he said.
He said New Jersey is one of the best states to live in for gays and lesbians.
The passage of the resolution makes Hudson the first county in the state to provide health benefits under the 2004 state law which was sponsored by then-Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto in 2003 in responding to a request by Rev. Mark Lewis, pastor of the Church of Our Saviour in Secaucus.
Under the act – which was signed into law by Gov. Jim McGreevey in January 2004 – domestic partners are eligible for a Certificate of Domestic Partnership if they file an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership with a local municipality and pay the application fee.
While the act does not confer the status of marriage, it does give domestic partners protections and benefits similar to those enjoyed by opposite-sex partners. The act says that two people of the same sex who are 18 years old or older may file the affidavit if they can demonstrate their mutual dependence and long-term commitment.
Both would agree to be jointly responsible for each other’s basic living expenses during the domestic partnership, and could not enter into a similar arrangement with another partner within 180 days of terminating a previous relationship. Heterosexual couples over the age of 62 can also file and be given the same rights.
Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons said he pushed for a county resolution after being urged for support by a constituent who called him.
The resolution authorizes participation between the County of Hudson and the New Jersey State Health Benefits Program Act giving these benefits to county employees and retirees and making same-sex domestic partners and dependents eligible for benefits and pensions.
The state of the county
County Executive Tom DeGise gave a State of the County address to the freeholders, saying that the county had made advances in providing prescription drug benefits, better homeland security, more job growth, and a substantial open space plan.
Countywide unemployment has fallen from 9.2 percent to 5 percent in the last 18 months, he said.
“Two years ago, Hudson County stood alone as the only county in New Jersey without an open space trust,” DeGise said, noting voters approved a related referendum and that he had a goal of doubling the county’s current amount of open space.
“A year ago, in the wake of changes to Medicare, we created Hudson County government’s first-ever prescription drug savings program,” DeGise said. “It was a godsend for residents in need, who are able to cut their bills by an average of 27 percent by using our county prescription savings card.”
DeGise also mentioned a program by the Health and Human Services Department in the fight against AIDS.
“While communities nationwide have seen cuts in funding for their programs for people with AIDS, Hudson County has maintained its funding,” he said. “We have done so thanks to an innovative approach to delivery service. Called consumer-based delivery, this approach invited people who need services to work with our county staff as part of a committee that develops service delivery strategies which best fit our county’s needs.”
DeGise also said the county has been able to control its debt, budget honestly, and manage its facilities more wisely. This includes the purchase of a building to house many of the county’s services in Jersey City and the purchase of a warehouse in Kearny from which the county can centralize its distribution.
He also noted that the addition to the county correctional facility in Kearny would soon be ready and that most, if not all, corrections officers have been academy-trained for the first time in Hudson County history.