U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., today issued a call for openly LGBT elected, appointed and community leaders to convene in Washington, D.C. this December for the 26th International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference.

“I am honored to once again co-chair the Leadership Conference with my colleagues in the House, Reps. Barney Frank and Jared Polis,” Baldwin said.  ”The three of us stand together during some of the toughest fights in Congress for LGBT equality, but we’re also strengthened by the collective experience, wisdom and passion of the international network of out leaders who meet each year.”

The 2010 Leadership Conference will take place December 2 to 5 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.  At the event’s silver anniversary last December, more than 600 openly LGBT leaders from government, politics and non-profit groups who gathered in San Francisco heard from speakers such as Berlin, Germany Mayor Klaus Wowereit and John Berry, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  Reps. Baldwin and Polis also gave an update on LGBT issues in Congress.

“This conference is our family reunion – a place and time to reconnect and build relationships, to learn from each other and to share both our triumphs and challenges,” Baldwin said in an e-mail to out officials.

The Leadership Conference is a program of the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute.  For more information about the event, go here.

Photo:  Washington Post editorial writer Jonathan Capehart, Rep. Jared Polis, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, emcee Kate Clinton, and OPM Director John Berry at the 25th International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference.

Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) has confirmed that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has the necessary funds to pay for her Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act.

The legislation, estimated to cost approximately $6.3 million each year, would provide same-sex partners of federal workers the same benefits available to spouses of straight workers.  These benefits would include health care and pension plans.

“We’ll be able to pay for it,” said Baldwin. “I’m confident that we will be able to offset it so that it will meet statutory pay-go requirements.”

Baldwin told reporters that she’s committed to passing the bill, but predicted ENDA would come to the House floor prior to the domestic partner bill.

DC Agenda reports:

Both the House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over the legislation reported out the bill late last year, but supporters have said they wouldn’t move the bill to the floor unless OPM provided information on how to pay for the legislation’s cost – an estimated $63 million each year — within the agency’s existing budget.

Baldwin said she didn’t want to offer more information publicly on how OPM found the needed funds to pay for the legislation.

“The last thing you want to do is put a pay-for out there,” she said. “Somebody else will grab it before I’m ready to take the bill to the floor because everyone wants money to pay for their bill.”

As we close out Women’s History Month, the Victory Fund today released this video salute to the women trailblazers who’ve been at the forefront of LGBT electoral politics.  For more information, go here.

The openly gay and lesbian members of Congress are making it clear they want a House vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act very soon.  Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told Lisa Keen he expects a vote following the spring recess, which runs March 29 to April 9:

Rep. Frank said in a phone interview Monday that he does not believe the increased rancor between Democrats and Republicans [over the health reform bill] will jeopardize passage of ENDA. He noted he recently picked up another Republican co-sponsor for the bill because the representative had received a visit from a couple of gay constituents.

Frank said he told Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee, “Now, it’s our turn.”

Meanwhile Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) told the San Diego Gay & Lesbian News the House has the votes to pass both ENDA and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”  ”As someone who has actually counted the votes, I believe that there are [enough],” Baldwin said.

Asked whether the LGBT community can expect a vote on ENDA and DADT this year even though midterm elections are coming up, Baldwin said, “We want the votes [taken] as soon as possible.”

“Certainly there are members of Congress who are nervous because of the economy, the rate of joblessness,” she said. “Across the country, people are agitated. On the other hand, my constituents want to see bolder and quicker change, and so I actually see positive signs to follow through [on DADT and ENDA].”

ENDA, a top priority of the LGBT movement for decades, would put in place a federal ban on discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.  It remains unclear whether Senate Democratic leaders have the votes to pass a companion bill.  For more information about the legislation, go here.

Congressional negotiators did not include LGBT-specific language in the final health insurance reform bill that will be voted on in the House this Sunday, according to HRC Backstory.

Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), the only openly lesbian Member of Congress, had fought to include provisions that would have equalized the tax treatment of domestic partner benefits and collect health data on LGBT populations, among other items.

HRC said:

While we are saddened that the House has abandoned provisions that would make care more accessible and affordable to our community, we recognize that the health reform measure will still help all Americans, including LGBT people.  Important reforms like eliminating pre-existing condition limitations and expanding Medicaid will significantly impact people living with HIV and AIDS.  We urge Congress to pass this legislation, addressing the nation’s dire need for reform in our health care system and clearing the way for Congress to act on the many issues it needs to address, including ones of great importance to the LGBT community.