NEWS RELEASE
MADISON—Wisconsin Family Action president Julaine Appling issued the following statement in reaction to Governor Jim Doyle’s budget proposal announced last evening.
"Governor Jim Doyle’s budget, as announced and released yesterday, puts Wisconsin on the wrong path. We have problems with a number of the items, as presented by the governor last night. However, no issue concerns us more than the plan to institute a statewide domestic partnership registry to be administered by the counties. Details of this social policy issue tucked within the fiscal budget seem to test Wisconsin’s marriage protection amendment.
"From property transfers to inheritance to health care coverage, the plan gives people in ‘committed relationships’ the same benefits heretofore reserved for married couples, which by law in Wisconsin is restricted to one man and one woman. Throughout the bill, the term ‘domestic partner’ is used in the same context as ‘spouse.’ It appears that the intent is to approximate marriage, to test what ‘identical to or substantially similar to’ means in the constitutional amendment.
"The governor has also defined what a domestic partnership is, who qualifies, how people enter such a legal relationship, and how this relationship is dissolved. The counties would register the people and then report the relationship status to the state.
"In addition to the statewide domestic partnership registry and its components, the governor’s budget also provides for all state employees in a domestic partnership to receive health care benefits.
Last budget cycle, the governor proposed that UW System employees receive such benefits; the proposal was eventually removed.
"Wisconsin Family Action believes that non-fiscal policy should not be part of a budget. Such items should be put in stand-alone bills and appropriately vetted publicly and legislatively—not buried in a voluminous budget proposal.
"Wisconsin citizens passed Wisconsin’s marriage protection amendment in November 2006, by a 59%-41% margin. The language of the amendment makes clear that marriage in Wisconsin is between one man and one woman and that marriage by another name is not legal. Even if the domestic partner provision in the budget passes constitutional muster, it is not the right step for Wisconsin to take, particularly in a time of financial crisis.
"While claiming that his budget makes ‘the largest cuts we’ve ever seen,’ the governor proposed a significant increase in government spending over the next decade with a plan to provide domestic partner benefits for state employees. Creating domestic partner benefits obviously does not cut costs; it increases them at a time when the financial situation in the state is so dire that, as the governor indicated last night, ‘many will be called on to share the sacrifices.’
"Wisconsin Family Action will continue to conduct a close reading of the nearly 1800 page budget proposal for a complete understanding of the sweep of the domestic partnership provisions, as well as numerous other items that concern us because of their impact on Wisconsin’s best natural resource–her traditional families."
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Wisconsin Family Action, the legislative action arm of Wisconsin Family Council (www.wifamilycouncil.org), educates citizens regarding the strengthening and preserving of marriage, family, life and liberty in Wisconsin.