by Kevin Sparrow

The current financial crisis facing California’s government is looking grim for its citizens. Many are being mailed IOUs to replace their expected stimulus checks as a final budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year has yet to be decided. A number of banks have announced they are willing to award the money for the IOUs if they are presented by July 10, but with the IOUs mailing date only beginning on July 2, many people will not receive them in time. They will have to wait until October 2 to receive their checks, when the IOUs will increase by their 1.5% interest rates and cost California’s government more money to pay out.

However, California had an opportunity to minimize this hardship. Funding that would have gone directly to the state from same-sex marriages could have been given a chance to grow from the initial start date of court sanctioned marriages in June 2008. Only Proposition 8 was passed in November, and the money spent on the Yes on 8 campaign to overturn the court ruling went solely to private organizations, offering no return to the citizens of California. Had Proposition 8 not passed, same-sex marriages would have continued, and the money received from these additional unions and tourism to the state from outside may have reconstituted itself in the stimulus money by providing the state legislature enough excess cash to finalize their budget on time. The state denied a beneficial opportunity to expand their income and improve their economy

The best example of how same-sex marriage has positively affected a state’s economy is from the first state to allow equal marriage. According to a recent UCLA Law School study by the Williams Institute, Massachusetts has earned over $111 million directly from gay marriages—from license registration to tourism—over the five years since they have been instituted in the state. Because they have a civil standing, a large percentage of that money goes directly to the government, creating a healthier economic climate in the state. In fact, Massachusetts is the ninth most prosperous state in the U.S., falling closely behind other progressive states like Connecticut and New Jersey. And since 2002, Massachusetts has been the number one state most adaptable to the current economy, showing that when progressive ideas are embraced, the money follows.

This is not to say that gay marriage alone would provide enough money to bail out a failing economy, but as much as subjective morality has been promulgated as the need for traditional marriage, economic impact should be a stronger incentive to provide practical approaches to how we decide on cultural issues. The degradation of society comes from the quality of life its citizens receive, not from changing morality (which is nearly redundant), and an unhealthy economy is a major factor contributing to a low quality of life. By supporting gay marriage, states have a better chance of supporting themselves and their citizens. It has yet to be seen if this is a lesson California will learn.