In his fiscal 2016 budget, released Monday, President Barack Obama proposed allowing married same-sex couples to receive spousal Social Security benefits, regardless of which state they live in. Currently, married same-sex couples lose their benefits it they move to a state that does not recognize their unions.
“The budget proposes to amend the Social Security Act to ensure all lawfully married same-sex couples will be eligible to receive Social Security spousal benefits, regardless of where they live,” Obama’s proposal states.
“Under this proposal, such married couples would have access to these benefits,” the budget says. Same-sex marriages are currently recognized in 36 states, as Bloomberg noted.
The proposal would have to be approved by the Republican-led Congress to take effect.
The Obama administration has already taken some other steps to extend legal protections, such as providing veterans benefits to married same-sex couples in states that don’t recognize their marriages, since the Supreme Court struck down parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in 2013.
