Gov. Jim Doyle's request for lawmakers to include health insurance coverage for the domestic partners of state employees, including the UW system, should be made a priority as part of Wisconsin's 2007-2009 budget.
In November, Madisonians witnessed the blue island of Dane County in the picture painted by voters after the defeat of the Gay Marriage Referendum, but equal benefits for families of state employees makes sense for the changing social plane.
Many private employers in Wisconsin such as S.C. Johnson, Miller Brewing and American Family Insurance already offer these benefits to keep their workforce competitive.
As a Big Ten university, UW-Madison is the only school that does not extend these benefits to its faculty. In the process, UW-Madison faces the danger of losing, or being side-stepped by potentially qualified educators and researchers.
Republicans in the Capitol do not believe that the state should subsidize health care for employees' boyfriends and girlfriends, but common sense says that committed partners should receive the same benefits granted to married couples.
This is critical, especially here in Madison, where the university is responsible for creating almost 75,000 jobs and generating nearly over 3 million dollars in state and local tax revenue.
Doyle is under the gun with an estimated 1.6 billion dollar deficit facing the state. Naturally, the expectation to incorporate new expenditures in an acceptable fashion falls on Doyle's shoulders.
But denying health-care coverage to the families of government employees based on sexual orientation is neither good for business nor for Wisconsin.
