[staytrue]

It would not cost the state at all? Well, who pays for this expansion of already bloated spending?

You can put it on the table. Add domestic partners in return for easier layoff or job transfer rules or cuts in paid sick leave, etc.

[Chummy]

As an aside, staytrue, in other reporting on this issue, the leader of the union representing the state employees says they did not ask for the benefit the Governor is offering, and are not apparently all that interested in what he's peddling.

There already have been some layoffs among state personnel.

How does one, for want of a better term, police a benefits program such as this? How does one control whether Tom's live-in girlfriend, Suzie, continues to claim domestic partner benefits after Suzie leaves Tom for Alex and Tom finds true puppies with Wanda?