Gay marriage: A billion-dollar bonus
Sylvia Smith, FortWayne.com from the Web, June 27, 2004
WASHINGTON - How much would it cost the federal government if gay men and lesbians could marry?
The chairman of a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee obviously thought he'd add another quiver to his bow of arguments against gay marriage when he asked the Congressional Budget Office to calculate how much Uncle Sam would have to pay out if gay widows could receive Social Security benefits and gay households could file income taxes as married couples.
But the chairman, Rep. Steve Chabot, didn't get what he hoped for last week when the agency sent back its report.
It looked at the 1,138 federal statutory provisions in which marital status is a factor in determining eligibility.
Some would add to the federal government's bottom line if coupled gay men and lesbians were included; some would reduce it.
But, overall, allowing lesbians and gay men to marry would add about $1 billion to federal coffers each year, allowing Congress to cut taxes $1 billion, increase education funding by $1 Billion, pave a few more miles of highway, and buy a bunch of
Humvees.
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