REPORT: NUPTIALS FOR GAYS BENEFITS MASS.: From the Boston Herald

Gay weddings and gay tourists traveling to Massachusetts to get hitched could pump an estimated $150 million into the state economy, while legalized same-sex marriage could save about $14 million a year in state spending, according to researchers at the University of Massachusetts.

But their study, published in the quarterly journal Massachusetts Benchmarks, quickly drew fire from a local group opposing same-sex marriage, even as one of the UMass researchers acknowledged that out-of-state gay couples aren't flocking here to get married.

From receptions to rings, spending on gay nuptuals could translate into a state economic boost of between $85 million and $102 million over a period dating from last May--when same-sex couples began getting married--to the end of this year, according to the report's authors, UMass professors Randy Albelda, Michael Ash and M.V. Lee Badgett.

Those estimates are based on the assumption that half of the roughly 17,000 gay and lesbian couples living together in the Bay State get married, the study said. ...

The report also estimated that gay married couples could end up paying an additional $250,000 in state taxes. "Conservatives call it the Marriage Penalty," Albelda said.

According to the study, the state could save $14 million a year on public assistance to newly wed gay men and lesbians who might no longer qualify for Medicaid, welfare and disability benefits.

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