Under the old law in Wisconsin, domestic partners were offered the state group health insurance program; the state group life insurance program; duty disability benefits; and the deferred compensation program. Under the new law, as of January 1, 2018, municipalities, counties and school districts are only permitted to offer such employee benefit plans to their employees, and the spouses and dependent children of such employees.

The new law also, according to the report, “precludes survivors whose domestic partner died while employed by a municipality, county or school district from collecting survivor benefits, except that the law includes a carve out for all surviving domestic partners of protective occupation employees receiving duty disability benefits such that those domestic partners may continue to collect the duty disability benefits until they remarry as long as: (1) the domestic partner was in a domestic partnership with the deceased protective occupation employee as of the date the employee became disabled; and (2) the disability occurred before January 1, 2018.”

The new law will not apply to employees subject to an existing collective bargaining agreement, or to another type of contract that contains language incompatible with the new law—until the current agreement or contract is modified, expires, terminates, or renews, whichever occurs first.