Posted on 12/03/2007 1:01:57 PM PST by JZelle
Same-sex marriages could raise money for Maryland's coffers, according to a November study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.
More than $3 million in net gains -- mostly to the wedding industry and from sales and lodging taxes -- could result if half of Maryland's approximately 15,600 same-sex couples received the same rights as married couples, said Lee Badgett, author of the study.
Data for same-sex couples was taken from the 2000 U.S. Census and state census samples in 2005, according to the study. The Charles R. Williams Project on Sexual Orientation Law is a think tank dedicated to the field of sexual orientation law and public policy.
Results of the study take into account losses to state tax revenue that would result if same-sex couples were to gain those benefits afforded to married couples. For example, decreases in estimated state income tax would be approximately $132,000 per year, inheritance tax $212,000 per year, and the real estate transfer tax $1.37 million per year.
In September, the Maryland Court of Appeals upheld a 1973 law providing that marriage is between a man and a woman. The court ruled same-sex couples in Maryland do not have a constitutional right to marriage or civil union, though it left open the possibility that the General Assembly could grant such a right in the future.
Several proposed amendments to the Maryland constitution that would have strictly prohibited marriage and civil unions for same-sex couples were voted down in 2006.
Maryland lawmakers, however, are skeptical about whether same-sex legislation will be passed.
Delegate Galen Clagett, a Democrat who represents Frederick County, said he had not considered the financial aspect of the same-sex marriage issue, and would have to look closer at the study.
(Excerpt) Read more at fredericknewspost.com ...
So, how would the economy do if the percentage of Catholics who stopped using function halls other than K of C offset the 2% gain if every Gay couple got hitched?
It doesn’t matter if it’s moral...It brings in money to buy votes, so it must be a good thing, right?
You beat me to it. Forget morals, just go for the money.
Same hocus-pocus phony baloney arguments could be made for *any* activity illegal across states lines.
State Economy could benefit from crack cocaine drug bazaars and opium dens. Think of the money that would be rolling in from the drug addicts flocking to the state.
Or machine gun purchases. Or gambling.
If they can only get married in state run casinos, just think of the revenue!
Kiddie porn is probably big bucks, too.
That’s 53 cents per Marylander. These data shouldn’t change any minds.
Hey, as long as we’re using this as a rationale, I think setting up Elkton as a major competitor of Bangkok in the child sex trade would help the economy, too.
Oh, hell...I’ve only lived here 8 months and already want to storm the state house.
Yes because as you know, we determine our morality by the highest bidder....
The older I get, the more I cam convinced, bloodshed is the only way this nation will get back to its roots, and it will not happen soon.
two steps forward and three back
the gay population is 2% nationwide, the Catholics and others revolting is ???? (50% maybe)
Not to mention the explosion in Gerbil sales....
in the case of Massachusetts, we have had white flight for the last five years or so. Politics and taxes. I can’t wait to get away from the virulent Gays in this state, it is now a completely amoral cesspool. They are busy polluting the public school system, plumbing for recruits.
And not to mention soap-on-a-rope sales at that little shop across from the YMCA
the legal profession windfall:
dewey, cheetam, and howe, attorneys-at- law
specializing in homosexual divorces
Legalized prostitution would also boosted the economy, as would “child-sex” tourism. That’s no argument in favor of anything.
LOL
But what if traditional heterosexual couples boycotted companies that provide services for “gay marriages”?
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