The Faculty Senate and Academic Staff Assembly celebrated Monday Gov. Jim Doyle’s signing into law the state budget bill that authorized domestic partner health insurance with faculty, students and Madison residents Monday.

“This occurrence has been a long time coming,” UW spokesperson John Lucas said. “Up until now, the state had continually blocked the university from offering benefits to domestic partners, which has been a tough issue for faculty and staff. The lack of domestic partner health insurance actually resulted in the University of Wisconsin’s loss of prospective faculty and staff.”

Under the new domestic partner health insurance benefits, an unmarried couple of either the same or opposite sex in a committed relationship can decide to share an insurance plan.

“The state authorized that an employee with an ongoing relationship with a domestic partner will be able to enroll their domestic partner in his or her plan as a dependent,” Steve Stern, vice provost for faculty and staff and chair for Domestic Partner Health Insurance Task Force, said.

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Finance, spoke at the celebration and addressed why the government had not previously established this law.

“Many government officials of both parties were unfriendly to the issue,” Pocan said.

He added the Legislature was only motivated to authorize domestic partner health insurance by people who left the university or refused to work because of its absence.

Before the state government passed the bill, UW was the only university in the Big Ten that did not offer this option.

The introduction of the domestic partner health insurance plan increases the competitiveness of the university, as it broadens the applicant pool, Stern said.

“If we do not offer domestic partner health insurance, we do not attract the best faculty and staff, which hurts the classroom environment, the students and the university’s ability to receive grants,” Stern said.

Chancellor Biddy Martin also spoke at the celebration about the necessity of domestic partner health insurance when recruiting prospective students and faculty.

“It is essential for students and staff to have the option of domestic partner health insurance because the university can’t recruit without having what is fair and right,” Martin said.

The celebration applauded the members of the Faculty Senate and of the Academic Staff Assembly, who have been working to convince the Wisconsin state Legislature to institute domestic partner health insurance since 1990, and allowed members of the Madison community to express their happiness and to receive information about applying for domestic partner health insurance.

“Domestic partner health insurance is all about equality. We have the same rights as married people, yet we have struggled immensely because people have constantly been against us. This new plan relieves much tension,” said Vickey Hoover, a Madison resident who will become part of her partner’s health insurance in January 2010.