Citing the need to compete as the university loses faculty due to its lack of partner benefits, the UW System Board of Regents voted Friday to oppose the proposed gay marriage amendment.
Regent President David Walsh said the amendment might further limit benefits for same-sex domestic partners.
The second paragraph of the amendment would prohibit domestic benefits for even private corporations,"" Walsh said, referring to the wording of Senate Joint Resolution 53.
The portion to which Walsh referred reads, ""A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.""
According to Walsh, if the amendment passes, this sentence would ban civil unions, but may also bar domestic partners from receiving benefits through a state university, in accordance with would-be state law.
According to Walsh, the UW System has lost a competitive edge in the past two years that it would have over other Big Ten schools if it had benefits.
Every other Big Ten university offers health-care benefits to gay partners. The University of Minnesota has offered either health-care benefits or reimbursements for same-sex partners since 1993.
UW-Madison employees who have left citing lack of benefits include former Dean of Students Luoluo Hong and engineering professor Rob Carpick, who generated $3.4 million in grants.
Although UW-Madison now offers ""soft"" benefits, like in-state tuition for partners that move to Wisconsin so one can pursue full-time UW-Madison employment and student health insurance access, the state has not yet funded definitive health-care benefits.
In March 2004, the UW System's Inclusivity Initiative for LGBTQ People could not request benefits because of a state budget crisis, according to the UW System's website. Assembly Joint Resolution 66, now SJR 53, passed that same month.
Gov. Jim Doyle advocated benefits funding in the last state budget cycle to no avail.
As election day draws closer, Republican lawmakers are accusing the UW System of ""playing politics"" in the gay marriage debate.
Rep. Mark Gundrum, R-New Berlin, argued in a release Friday that the amendment would not affect the university or employee benefits of unmarried partners, saying the Board of Regents is promoting a ""radical liberal agenda"" for Doyle.
The second sentence of the amendment, however, has garnered criticism from Republican and Democratic state lawmakers as being nonspecific and holding the potential to cause unintended legal consequences.
