Estimated at a cost of $1.3 million a year, a meager amount in comparison to the billions of dollars that make up the entirety of the budget, the addition of UW System domestic partner benefits to the Wisconsin biennial budget was unjustly denied last week by the Joint Finance Committee.
Fortunately, Gov. Jim Doyle's efforts and the feelings of all those slighted by the approval of the ban on civil unions and marriages could be rewarded after all.
The addition of these provisions into the state budget does not have to stop at the Joint Finance Committeeâ_â_""domestic partner benefits can be voted back into the budget if the majority of the committee says so.
Once past the committee, the state Assembly and Senate must also approve this provision, since these two bodies also have input on the budget. If all three of these bodies approve domestic partner benefits, they then need to be approved by the conference committee, a body comprised of members of both houses of the state Legislature.
The UW-Madison campus must work hard to bolster the domestic partner benefits through the intricate labyrinth that is the Wisconsin state government.
This provision would not only aid faculty and staff members who have domestic partners, but also students who fall into this unconventional marital situation as well. As a campus that supports and strives to improve diversity, it is essential that our support go toward getting this provision into the state budget. Our future as a respected university that offers a quality education depends on it.
It would be a cataclysm for qualified professors to walk away from UW-Madison on the basis that they and their families are not receiving the same financial benefits as the rest of the state.
While some say domestic partner benefits would only go toward assisting a select group of people in Wisconsin, it is vital to remember that we cannot exclude people on the premise that they are a minority and should thus be ignored.
Furthermore, the majority of Wisconsinites—59 percent according to the American Civil Liberties Union—have no problem with their fellow, diverse citizens reaping the same financial benefits as they do.
Should the close-minded opinion of a few dictate the benefits domestic partners are allowed, especially when the majority of Wisconsinites have no qualms in the matter? We think not.
