Allowing civil unions in Colorado would increase the state budget by nearly $5 million over three years, according to a new research study by the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law at the UCLA School of Law.
A civil union bill was introduced in the Colorado legislature on Feb. 14 by Democratic Sen. Pat Steadman, just two days before lawmakers in Hawaii passed a civil-unions bill, making it the seventh state to give the rights of marriage to same-sex couples.
The study that analyzed the economic impact on Colorado predicted that 28 percent of the state’s 12,558 same-sex couples and 1.5 percent of its opposite-sex couples will enter into civil unions in three years.
Most of the $5 million revenue stream would come from savings in expenditures on public benefits programs, it said, because a partner’s financial assets would be taken into account when determining eligibility for public assistance.
About $700,000 in tax revenues over three years would come from sale taxes on civil union ceremonies, and civil union license fees would also add to the revenue boost.
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
