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LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Jennifer Granholm will remove same-sex partner benefits from contracts negotiated with state workers, said an aide, citing a voter-approved amendment to the Michigan Constitution that bans gay marriage "and similar unions."
Michigan voters approved the amendment Nov. 2.
On Wednesday, Granholm aide David Fink said that negotiated contracts scheduled for adoption by the state Civil Service Commission on Dec. 15 will be stripped of the same-sex domestic partner benefits.
Fink said the Granholm administration decided to eliminate the benefits because of the passage of Proposal 2, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman and bans same-sex marriage and "similar unions for any purpose."
"We're about following the law and honoring the intent of the voters," Fink said.
He said the benefits could be restored before the contracts take effect on Oct. 1, 2005, if the courts have resolved the issue by then.
Republican legislators have been pressing the Democratic governor to strip the same-sex benefits from the contracts, which cover about 30,000 employees, or most of the state's union work force.
UAW lobbyist Alan Kilar said earlier this week that the union reached an agreement with the state in good faith and expected the state to stick with it.
"They agreed to this," Kilar said. "It's a contract and an agreement is an agreement." | 
