Blocking Same-Sex Marriage Hurts Finances

SAN FRANCISCO – An economist for the city of San Francisco says prohibiting same-sex couples from getting married hurts the city’s finances.

Chief city economist Edmund Egan testified Thursday that municipal coffers would benefit if the gay marriage ban was struck down because married people accumulate more wealth and have more to spend on property and consumer goods.

Egan is testifying in a federal trial on a lawsuit challenging Proposition 8, a ballot measure approved by voters in 2008.

The city was allowed to join the lawsuit to demonstrate that governments bear some of the costs of the ban.

Egan says the city also has to spend more on health care for uninsured workers because same-sex couples are not always covered under their partner’s employee health care plans.