New Jersey made national headlines yesterday when the Senate passed a same sex marriage bill. In order to make this real news, the Legislature will need a 2/3 majority vote in favor in order to override the promised veto by Governor Christie, who insists this issue should be put to a voter referendum. There has been, ironically, a fearful and defensive strategy in the Democratic response to the Governor. Flying in the face of reality and facts, in the form of public opinion polls, the Associated Press reported "Democratic leaders say they will not allow a vote, arguing that a majority of the people should not be entrusted with deciding whether to protect a minority."
Regardless of your position on this sensitive, and sometimes heated, issue, the accumulated cost to the taxpayers, for supposedly settling this, once and for all, is dumbfounding. In fact, the NJ Supreme Court gave legislators the option for a same sex marriage law back in 2006 -- when there was a Democratic Governor. In a Washington Post article, in October of that year, this was his position:
Gov. Jon S. Corzine (D) has supported domestic partnership but not same-sex marriage. Yesterday he hailed the decision, without precisely tipping his hand about which legislative remedy he favored. "The Court ruled that same sex couples are entitled to equal rights," he said in a statement. "And I look forward to the legislative process implementing the Court's decision."
How much money, and time, has been wasted on this? It's difficult to quantify it precisely since, obviously, the Legislature hasn't spent all their time on this one issue. However, let's remember how long it has been an issue, and then look at what it costs for representation in the State capital. The latest figures, reported on Wikipedia, show a total cost for each member of the General Assembly to be $200,000 per year. Multiply that times 80 members, and the grand total comes to $16,000,000. Yes, that's sixteen million, not including the Governor's salary, or his assistant(s) or expenses. Multiply that times the number of years (5 and counting) that this issue has been unresolved, and prorate as you see fit for the amount of time actually spent on this issue.
More to the point, unless and until there is a Federal mandate, no State law permitting same sex marriage in the U. S. is worth a grain of salt. The Defense of Marriage Act trumps states' rights every time. Whatever the cost to the NJ taxpayer has actually been, it has been for naught, and there has been little desire from the (Democratic) President to rock the boat. Only early in 2011 did Obama refuse to defend the law, a law he might have used his Executive Powers to overturn -- a practice he began as soon as he took his seat in the Oval Office after criticizing the practice.
All New Jerseyans should be incensed -- gay or straight.
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