MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Domestic partners of state and local Wisconsin government workers would no longer have state health coverage and other benefits under a vote by the Legislature’s budget-writing committee. Gov. Scott Walker’s administration has said it was making the change since all couples, including same-sex, can now legally marry. There are nearly 4,400 partnerships in the registry. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau reports that 78 percent of them are opposite sex, suggesting that the benefits offered have a value to workers separate and distinct from what they’d get if they were married. Walker’s proposal approved Thursday by the Joint Finance Committee would result in the domestic partner registry ending in 2018.
