Marylanders have a reason to celebrate the passage of the Civil Marriage Protection Act besides the progress it makes in treating all our citizens equally: it could inject an extra $90 million a year into Maryland’s economy. That’s according to analysts who crunched numbers for the General Assembly earlier this year, and it includes money projected not only from Maryland residents, but also from out-of-staters who will tie the knot here.
According to Baltimore Business Journal, though January and February are usually the wedding off-season, wedding-related businesses are gearing up for them to be busier in 2013, as eager couples race to take advantage of the new law.
And it’s not just the florists, hoteliers, and cake shops that will be seeing the action. More weddings also means more divorce! So lawyers will be experience an uptick in business as well. Not only that, but as gay marriages are not yet federally recognized, they are more legally complicated. So even without matrimonial turmoil, lawyers will be busy guiding same sex couples around the pitfalls of a half-recognized union.
