Kentucky rejects ban on universities' domestic partners health insurance

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A House committee yesterday killed a Senate bill that would bar state universities and other public agencies from providing health insurance for domestic partners of employees.

Spokesmen for the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville yesterday said the committee's decision was appropriate. The decisions since 2006 by the universities to let employees purchase health insurance for their domestic partners triggered legislative efforts to ban the policy.

The vote on SB 112 came largely along party lines, with Democrats Bob Damron of Nicholasville and John Arnold of Sturgis voting with four Republicans for the bill. The nine Democrats who voted no included Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington and a longtime opponent of the measure, who snapped "of course not" when asked for her vote on the bill.

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