Annie Linskey and Laura Curtis, at Bloomberg News:
President Barack Obama’s $4 trillion budget proposal includes a major change to the Social Security Act that would allow same-sex couples to receive spousal benefits even if they live in states that don’t recognize such unions.
Under current law, gay couples who move from one of the 36 states that permit same-sex marriage to one that does not lose the Social Security benefits heterosexual couples enjoy. “Under this proposal, such married couples would have access to these benefits,” according to the budget…
The proposal in his budget would have to be passed by a Republican-led Congress that is deeply divided on gay marriage, stirring debate that would put the issue in the forefront as the party is trying to select a 2016 presidential candidate. Social conservatives staunchly oppose such unions, while the libertarian wing prefers the issue be left up to states. Many of the party’s most generous donors, including energy executive David Koch and hedge fund founder Paul Singer, support gay marriage.
Americans’ views on same-sex marriage have changed rapidly in the past decade, with 52 percent of respondents favoring gay marriages in a September 2014 poll by the Pew Research Center. That’s up from 31 percent supporting the policy in 2004…
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Apart from applauding efforts to do the right thing, what’s on the agenda for the evening?