The Williams Institute

This analysis estimates the impact of extending marriage to same-sex couples on state and local government revenues in New Jersey. Using the best data available, we estimate that allowing same-sex couples to marry will result in approximately $15.1 million in new revenue over the next three years.

Our analysis relies on the same methods that we used in previous studies of the fiscal impact of marriage for same-sex couples on Washington, New Mexico, New Hampshire, California, Connecticut, Colorado, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maryland, and Iowa. The full methodology for our analysis is set out in Supporting Families, Saving Funds: A Fiscal Analysis of New Jersey‘s Family Equality Act. These studies have found that extending the rights and obligations of marriage to same-sex couples would have a positive impact on each state‘s budget. Similar conclusions have been reached by legislative offices in Connecticut and Vermont and by the Comptroller General of New York. In addition, the Congressional Budget Office has concluded that if all fifty states and the federal government extended the rights and obligations of marriage to same-sex couples, the federal government would benefit by nearly $1 billion each year.