Regent says extending benefits to gays at U-of-I was a mistake

A member of the board which governs Iowa, Iowa State and U-N-I believes the group made a mistake in extending health insurance benefits to partners of homosexual University of Iowa employees. Board of Regents member David Fisher of West Des Moines says it will harm the universities’ relations with lawmakers.A few conservative lawmakers threaten to rescind the new benefits for gays and lesbians employed by the University of Iowa. Fisher says the state-supported universities will have a new approach to talking about budget priorities to avoid a repeat of this past year when lawmakers shorted the budgets for Iowa, Iowa State and U-N-I.Fisher was appointed to the Board of Regents in 1997 by Governor Branstad. Fisher hopes Governor Vilsack spends some time this summer and fall at the universities to find out what’s happening on the campuses.