THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 25, 1996 TAG: 9604250468
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
The Virginia Housing Development Authority denies low-interest home loans to unmarried couples, including homosexuals, but it applies far less restrictive workplace rules to its own employees.
The VHDA in January reversed a policy it adopted in June 1994 to allow unrelated people to pool their incomes when applying for loans. The decision marked a return to a policy of making loans only to people related by marriage, blood or adoption.
Gov. George F. Allen pushed for the change, and it was approved on a 6-2 vote. The six commission members Allen appointed voted for the new policy.
``We feel like the new regulation will encourage the traditional family,'' VHDA commission Chairman Michael G. Miller said at the time.
But Section 603.12 of the VHDA's own ``Personnel Policies and Procedures'' for ``illness-death in family'' leave goes beyond the traditional definition of family.
It allows leave with full pay for employees in the event of illness or death of ``parents, spouse, children, brother, sister, grandparents, `significant others' or any individual residing in the same household as the employee.''
And, ``absences caused by pregnancy, miscarriage, abortion or childbirth, regardless of marital status,'' are covered by the maternity leave policy.
``This is a grand hypocrisy,'' said Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Virginia.
``According to the commissioners, the reason for making this change was to promote traditional families. They felt the previous policy was too expansive a definition of family, yet the previous policy and their own definition of family was almost identical,'' Willis said.
The ACLU plans to challenge the loan policy in court.
VHDA declined to comment on the leave policy. ``We do not discuss personnel policies publicly,'' said spokesman Mike Anderson.
``Significant others'' also use the agency's exercise room, called the ``Body Shop'' by some employees, said a source familiar with the VHDA's personnel policies. The source spoke on condition of anonymity, but Anderson confirmed that employees pay a 77-cent monthly fee that allows one friend to use the exercise room.
VHDA employees are not allowed to apply for or receive agency loans.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve Board are checking whether the VHDA's lending rules comply with federal regulations.
Lloyd A. Jones, state director for the federal Rural Development program, said the general counsel of his parent agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is reviewing the VHDA policy.
He said Rural Development would stop guaranteeing the housing authority's loans if it is determined that the policy violates federal laws. by CNB