Washington » President Barack Obama and the House's only openly lesbian member are pushing a bill that would give equal benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees.

But Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz stood in opposition to that effort during the legislation's first hearing Wednesday.

"I, like most people in this country, [am] in favor of preserving traditional marriage," said Chaffetz, the ranking Republican member on the House subcommittee that oversees the federal work force. "I don't' think we should try to create something that is under a different name."

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said she is not trying to create some sort of alternative to marriage. She sees the bill as "an issue of equal compensation for equal work."

She lamented her inability to provide health coverage for her partner of the past 13 years, calling it a "significant inequality."

The bill would give gay and lesbian partners of federal employees the same benefits as spouses, including health insurance and retirement.

It also would put them under the same rules, requiring them to follow anti-nepotism and financial disclosure regulations.

To obtain benefits, a same-sex partner would have to sign an eligibility affidavit.

"In many ways, it's baffling that this blatant inequity persists on the federal level," said subcommittee chairman Stephen Lynch. He pointed out that more than half of the Fortune 500 companies offer equal benefits to same-sex couples, as do 19 states and more than 250 local governments.

That list includes Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County governments, which have extended full benefits to so-called "adult designees."

In mid-June, Obama signed a memorandum giving gay and lesbian couples limited benefits, such as visitation and dependent care rights, but stopped short of providing health or retirement benefits.

Gay activists have largely been frustrated by what they see as Obama's hesitancy to support equal rights.

But on Wednesday, a high-ranking administration official backed the full extension of federal benefits.

"Enacting this bill would address the problem and provide for true equality in benefits for all federal employees and its passage is supported by the president," said John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management.

Berry said he sees the bill as a tool to attract and keep top employees in hard to fill jobs such as nurses, veterinarians and engineers.

Offering such benefits would cost about $56 million in 2010, Berry said, an increase of less than two-tenths of 1 percent.

But Chaffetz called the legislation "directly discriminatory" against heterosexual couples that choose not to marry.

Others on the panel bristled at Chaffetz's remarks. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., called it "a screaming contradiction" as gay couples in most states do not have the legal right to marry.

Because of the Defense of Marriage Act, even in the few places such as Massachusetts that recognize same-sex marriages, those spouses cannot access federal benefits.

This is not the first time Chaffetz has stepped out on gay issues. He made headlines by vowing to block the District of Columbia from recognizing gay marriages performed in other states. That decision, made by the D.C. Council, went into effect this week, though Chaffetz has signed on to a federal bill that would rescind that recognition.

mcanham@sltrib.com