CALIFORNIA MARRIAGE BILL HELD PENDING FURTHER REVIEW
Equality California Sponsored AB 1967 Could Help Avert Budget Cuts, UCLA Economic Study Taken Into Consideration

SACRAMENTO – The California Assembly Appropriations Committee today decided to continue reviewing the Marriage License Non-Discrimination Act (AB 1967), which prevents marriage discrimination. AB 1967 authored by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and sponsored by Equality California, the state-wide LGBT advocacy organization, is being placed on the "suspense" file while an independent economic analysis by the UCLA Williams Project shows that enacting the bill provides a net gain to the state budget of more than $20 million annually. Committee Chair Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) agreed to have the committee review the study before next Friday's.

“At a time the state is considering cutting education and health, we hope the committee will pass this bill and make some of those cuts unnecessary ,” said Geoffrey Kors, Executive Director of Equality California. “The UCLA study makes it clear that equal protection is not only the right thing to do morally, but also fiscally. The Assembly Appropriations Committee should not let this bill languish when it could do enormous good for families and for the economy.”

Brad Sears, director of the UCLA Williams Project and author of an economic analysis of AB 1967, gave testimony to the committee about the substantial fiscal and economic benefits of ending marriage discrimination.