Undergraduate Student Senate voted to approve a domestic partner benefits resolution at its public meeting yesterday.

“I’m happy that it got approved,” said Ross Miltner, USS executive director. “I was expecting it to pass.”

During discussion, Amy Groya, senator for governmental affairs, and Preston Mitchum, senator for academic affairs, voiced their support for the resolution.

“This is something that definitely needs to get passed,” Mitchum said.

Six senators — Groya, Mitchum, Megan Sedello, Justin Jeffery, Kourtney Wolfgang and Christen Coppola — voted to approve the resolution, while two — Sean Groves and Ben Feld — abstained from voting.

“There’s always going to be a couple people that dissent,” Miltner said, adding that he was prepared to break a tie to help the resolution pass.

The next step for USS is to recommend extending the university’s benefits to President Lester Lefton and the Board of Trustees, Miltner said.

“Us approving or denying has no bearing on any action taken by the administration,” Groya said.

The issue is now up to the Board of Trustees.

“It’s out of our control,” Miltner said. “So now all three (USS, Graduate Student Senate and Faculty Senate) have publicly approved it.”

Similar resolutions were previously approved by Faculty Senate and by GSS. The resolution has been an issue for USS since December 2005.

Also at the meeting, the senators discussed a proposed contract for a merger between the Kent State Credit Union and the Kent Credit Union. The senators voted to table the contract.

“We have one of the few student-run credit unions in the country,” Miltner said. “It’s a financial merger decision.”

Contact student politics reporter Kali Price at [email protected].