What's good for same-sex couples is good for Colorado DailyCamera

By M.V. Lee Badgett October 28, 2006

Coloradans have an important choice to make at the ballot box on Referendum I, which would give same-sex couples the right to enter into domestic partnerships. Most of the debate has focused on the rights and benefits that would strengthen the health and well-being of same-sex couples and their families.

Some potential voters are wary about the hidden costs of those benefits, though. Largely absent from the debate are the responsibilities of domestic partnerships that balance the rights and the equally real benefits to the state's business competitiveness and fiscal health.

My colleagues and I have studied the economic effects of partnership rights for many years and have recently published several studies that document the benefits of equality for the state and for the state's economy. Many of Colorado's businesses would gain directly from domestic partnerships. Same-sex couples would spend more than $34 million on celebrations related to their new partnerships. This new business spending will create jobs and profit in the hotel, restaurant, florist and catering industries.

All businesses will gain from equality in other ways. Equal treatment in the business world creates more productive workplaces for gay, lesbian and bisexual employees. It's a simple formula that works for the half of Fortune 500 firms that offer domestic partner benefits to its employees — including Colorado's own Ball Corporation, Coors Brewing Co., Rhone Poulenc and Qwest Communications.

Gay, lesbian and bisexual employees who get domestic-partner benefits are more open in the workplace and have better mental health outcomes than employees who do not get such benefits. Partner benefits also increase job satisfaction and job retention, reducing recruitment and training costs for companies. Companies also get a bonus: some recent data suggest that many heterosexuals want to work in places that treat gay and lesbian employees equally.

What's the price tag? A very small one. Most medium to large employers would experience no more than a 1-percent increase in health-care enrollment of new partners, and health-care costs would rise by roughly the same tiny amount. Small businesses would probably see no new partners at all. Colorado has about 16,000 same-sex couples (according to recently released census data) and only about half are likely to enter domestic partnerships. Spread those partners out across the 100,000-plus firms in the state, and even 8,000 partnerships are incorporated easily and inexpensively.

Giving same-sex couples the right to enter domestic partnerships will boost Colorado's state budget, too. For one thing, all of those partnership celebrations will add a $1 million windfall in new sales tax revenue over the first few years of partnerships. More importantly, domestic partners won't just get rights and benefits — they'll have legal and financial responsibilities for each other, too.

The rights of domestic partnership mean that some couples will no longer need public assistance; the responsibilities of partnership mean that some people will no longer be eligible for public assistance. Either way, even if only a small percentage of individuals living with partners register and no longer receive such benefits, the state will save $1 million per year.

Added health insurance costs for benefits going to state employees' domestic partners reduce the net gain to the state, but not by much. Overall, the net gain will be more than $1 million per year.

The list of gains to the economy and society continues, although it's difficult to put a dollar value on them all. If more partners get health-care coverage, the number of uninsured people will fall, as will the costs of uncompensated care that contribute to increases in everyone's health care premiums. We also know that over time, more insurance translates into better health care, and better health is good for business, too.

Finally, this isn't just the opinion of one or two economists. In addition to our own research, the Congressional Budget Office and other states have also found that recognizing the rights of same-sex couples will have a positive impact on federal and state budgets.

A close look at the data leads to just one conclusion: Equal treatment of same-sex couples is not just good for families, but for businesses and government budgets, too. Colorado has an opportunity for a win-win-win scenario on Election Day.

M.V. Lee Badgett is an economist and research director of the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.