 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
|
|||||||||||||
| about us | |||||||
|
UCLA'S WILLIAMS INSTITUTE
RELEASES NEW STUDY ANALYZING THE
FISCAL IMPACT OF EXTENDING
MARRIAGE TO SAME-SEX COUPLES ON
THE CALIFORNIA BUDGET
Press Release June 9, 2008 Media Contacts: LOS ANGELES - Today the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law released a new research study analyzing the economic gains that same-sex couples' weddings will bring to California. The California Supreme Court's recent decision to extend marriage to same-sex couples will have a positive net impact on the state budget and the state economy. The California wedding industry will receive a substantial $683.8 million boost in direct spending by same-sex couples over the next three years. The study predicts that, based on the experience of Massachusetts, half of California's 102,000 same-sex couples will want to marry, leading to 51,000 weddings. Another 68,000 out-of-state couples are likely to travel to California to marry. This economic lift will also likely generate almost 2,200 new jobs in the state. "In a tough economic climate, California businesses are in a unique position to reap the wedding windfall, bringing millions of additional dollars in revenue to state businesses," explains economist M.V. Lee Badgett, co-author of the study and research director of The Williams Institute. Weddings by same-sex couples in California will have a positive impact on the state budget of approximately $64 million over the next three years. Sales and occupancy tax revenues from wedding related expenses by both in-state and out-of-state couples will total over $55.1 million. In addition, same-sex weddings will generate $8.8 million in marriage license fees for California counties. "The fiscal effects of same-sex marriage will reverberate well beyond city hall, helping to balance the state budget," notes study co-author Brad Sears, executive director of the Williams Institute. The Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy advances law and public policy through rigorous, independent research and scholarship, and disseminates its work through a variety of education programs and media to judges, legislators, lawyers, other policy makers and the public. This study can be accessed at the Williams Institute website: www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute. ###
|
|||||||