Gay reparations? Elizabeth Warren introduces bill to pay certain same-sex couples

Amid debate over whether Americans should pay reparations for slavery, Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is advocating what many claim amounts to "gay reparations."

Warren introduced a bill last week — called the "Refund Equality Act" — that would permit gay married couple to amend past tax returns to receive the additional tax breaks they would have received had they been allowed to file taxes jointly with their partner.

"The federal government forced legally married same-sex couples in Massachusetts to file as individuals and pay more in taxes for almost a decade," Warren said, according to NBC News. "We need to call out that discrimination and to make it right."

Same-sex couples in 10 states were allowed to legally marry before the Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013. Warren's bill would allow those couples to amend their previous tax returns for all the years they were married before DOMA was overturned. The IRS previously allowed same-sex couples to amend the last three years of returns, the same time allotted to all married couples.

A report by the Joint Committee on Taxation revealed last week those couples would be eligible for $57 million in refunds.

"We must right these wrongs," Warren said last week.

Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) introduced companion legislation, called the "PRIDE Act of 2019," in the House earlier this month.

Warren introduced similar legislation in 2017, put it failed to gain enough support to pass, despite being co-sponsored by more than 30 lawmakers.