Louisiana legislators reject state employee health contract because of LGBT protections

The Times-Picayune: Louisiana House members rejected a state employee health benefits contract extension Friday (Nov. 18) because it included workplace protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers.

House Appropriations Chairman Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said his members likely wouldn't approve the agreement until the LGBT nondiscrimination clause is removed. State lawmakers are expected to take up the contract again in December.

"If you bring that contract back again, and it has the same language that it does now, we are going to have the same problems," Henry told Susan West, the head of Louisiana's Office of Group Benefits, which oversees state employee health care plans.

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