I thought I would forward over this action alert from the folks at Fair Wisconsin:

Today Governor Jim Doyle will release his budget proposal to the Wisconsin Legislature. For the first time, he will call on state lawmakers to extend domestic partner health insurance to all state employees.

Please urge your state lawmakers to support domestic partner benefits today. Click here to send a message:

http://eqfed.org/campaign/DPB

The balance of power shifted in the state legislature last November. It won't be easy, but for the first time ever there is a chance domestic partner benefits could become a reality. This won't happen unless we ratchet up the pressure on lawmakers to do the right thing.

They need to know that providing domestic partner benefits is a matter of fairness and competitiveness.

Currently state employees can share health insurance with their married spouses. Yet domestic partners are denied this basic way to care for their families. A state employee who married his wife last week can share his health insurance with her, yet a gay couple together for over 30 years cannot.

The denial of equal benefits isn't just bad for our families. It's bad for Wisconsin. Hundreds of private companies offer domestic partner benefits because it helps them attract and retain talented workers. Wisconsin is falling behind. For example, UW-Madison is the only Big 10 school without domestic partner benefits, and it's led to top researchers leaving the state. The Governor's proposal will fix this problem.

Please urge your lawmakers to support domestic partner benefits today:

http://eqfed.org/campaign/DPB

Fair Wisconsin has updated our list of employers across the state that offer domestic partner benefits. Please email us if you know of a company that offers domestic partner benefits not yet on the list. Click here:

http://www.fairwisconsin.com/news/dpupdate.html

Fair Wisconsin

Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this. Tell-a-friend!