McDonnell says Virginia National Guard will provide benefits to gay couples

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McDonnell says Virginia National Guard will provide benefits to gay couples
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/mcdonnell-says-virginia-national-guard-will-provide-benefits-to-gay-couples/2013/09/05/223e9e4a-164d-11e3-804b-d3a1a3a18f2c_story.html

By Laura Vozzella,

RICHMOND — Virginia’s National Guard will provide health insurance and other benefits to same-sex couples, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell said Thursday, one day after a state delegate urged him to defy a new Pentagon directive to treat all marriages equally.

In a letter to McDonnell this week, Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William) warned that providing the benefits would violate the state constitutional ban on gay marriage.

“As Commander of the Virginia National Guard[,] what will you do to secure that the spirit and letter of the [state] Constitution regarding marriage will be upheld?” Marshall wrote.
....

Marshall sent the letter to the governor after seeing a news report about the Texas National Guard, which has said it will not provide benefits for same-sex couples because doing so would conflict with the Texas Constitution and the state’s “Family Code.”

Gay Va. Guard couples get benefits, angering delegate
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/09/despite-delegates-plea-gay-va-guard-couples-get-benefits

By Julian Walker
The Virginian-Pilot
© September 6, 2013

RICHMOND

Legally married same-sex partners of Virginia National Guard members will be eligible for the same federal benefits as opposite-sex married couples, despite the objection of at least one lawmaker.

The Guard is complying with Defense Department policy on extending benefits to qualified spouses of gay service members, a move that has Gov. Bob McDonnell’s blessing.

And that’s left Del. Bob Marshall fuming.
....

Another marriage benefit Marshall wants Virginia to stand against is an Internal Revenue Service policy to allow some same-sex couples to file returns like other married taxpayers. In his letter to the governor, he asked “that Virginia not assist the IRS in any way in extending tax benefits to those same sex couples who have chosen to go to another state to ‘marry.’ ”

Julian Walker, 804-697-1564, [e-mail]