Wisconsin’s congressional representatives in Washington are pressing the U.S. attorney general on marriage benefits for hundreds of gay couples.

 

Senator Tammy Baldwin and Representatives Ron Kind, Gwen Moore and Mark Pocan sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday. They are asking Holder to recognize the 550-plus couples who wed recently in Wisconsin when the gay-marriage ban was ruled unconstitutional.

 

Federal benefits for these couples would mean they could file federal tax returns jointly and qualify for Social Security survivor benefits.

 

Republican Governor Scott Walker did vote for the gay marriage ban in 2006 as a legislator. Now with all the legal wrangling going on, he maintains his personal opposition does not matter.

 

FOX 11 caught up with Walker Wednesday afternoon as he toured LaserForm in Ashwaubenon. We asked him about the Democrats’ letter to Holder and their efforts to secure benefits for the couples.

 

“From our standpoint, I don’t know what he’ll do. I don’t ever talk to the attorney general at the national level, so that’s one you’d have to ask the U.S. Department of Justice,” said Walker.

 

FOX 11 has learned Holder’s office has not yet responded to the Democrats’ letter.

 

 

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