Alfred Doblin, editorial page editor of The Record of Hackensack, says New Jersey could experience a windfall — like the one anticipated for Massachussets — if it would just call a rose a rose and allow gay couples from all over the country to come to the Garden State to get married.
Massachusetts is about to get a financial windfall. According to a state-commissioned study, 32,000 same-sex couples will travel to Massachusetts to marry over the next three years. Allowing out-of-state, same-sex couples to wed will create 330 permanent new jobs and add $111 million to the state’s economy. That does not include revenue from wedding guests traveling to the Gay State or other wedding-related expenses.
Back to New Jersey. We have everything Massachusetts has and more. New Jersey has proximity to New York. New Jersey has a shore. New Jersey has Atlantic City. What it doesn’t have is enough new revenue.
This month, the state Casino Control Commission released its report on June casino revenue. It stinks. Revenue is down 11 percent compared to the same month last year. Slot machine revenue is down. Table game revenue is down. Atlantic City is a 12-month-a-year tourist destination. There is no reason that the cottage wedding business of Las Vegas could not be duplicated in Atlantic City with same-sex couples. An infusion of same-sex couples into the Atlantic City economy is good business. The state makes money on the licenses; casinos and hotels make money on the couples and weddings.
And it’s not just South Jersey that will see new revenue. Imagine the numbers of out-of-state, same-sex couples marrying in Hoboken and Jersey City with the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop. We have the geography. All we need are wedding licenses.
Imagine, doing what’s right and generating revenue at the same time. No wonder the state has failed to move on this.
Hank Kalet 