With big spending increases difficult, Pocan said Democrats would look at smaller ticket items such as a plan long-sought by UW-Madison and other state universities to give domestic partner benefits to their employees. During the last budget process the Republican lawmakers who then controlled the Assembly blocked the measure.
Being one of the few large universities in the region that doesn’t offer health insurance to employees’ same-sex partners makes it harder to attract some top faculty, University of Wisconsin System spokesman David Giroux said. The $670,000 a year cost of the benefit would be returned because it would help attract or retain researchers who bring in the big federal grants that help drive Madison’s growing knowledge economy, he said.
“We’re going to do what we can to help the UW be competitive in keeping” faculty, Pocan said.