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 ...
Is there not anything that we will do for money? As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the son of man.
Some revenues just aren’t worth the moral hassle.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
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