State Sen. Russ Decker, D-Weston, and state Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson, co-chairpersons of the 16-member Joint Finance Committee, have agreed to remove 48 non-fiscal items as identified by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau from the 2007-2009 state budget.
Among the items removed is a proposal to grant state employees in domestic partnerships access to health care benefits similar to those offered to other state employees.