We are in an upswing in the recession. However, we still have an unbalanced national budget and several key programs on the chopping block. Let us shift to Mississippi’s budget issues. Governor Haley Barbour would like to cut another 77 million from the budget, and 65 million of that would be coming from K-12 education funding. How would schools make up the difference in their budgets? By requesting increases in local taxes would be the most likely answer.
The last few years have seen $300 million cut from the education budget already. We will ignore where Mississippi has been coming in on state rankings for education the last few years. What are our options for increasing the local economy and employment? We could review the highly-debated legalizing of prostitution and marijuana ideas. Prostitution is a very tricky idea and might send the wrong impression about southern hospitality. Marijuana would be simpler for us as an agricultural state to pass. We could always look into changing our alcohol laws, such as allowing the sale of higher gravity beers or charging more per alcohol content.
However, I’m thinking of something else a little more joyous and a bit more multi-layered. What about weddings and more specifically, approving homosexual weddings? Moral and religious views aside, the wedding industry revenues roughly over $2 billion yearly. The average American wedding before the honeymoon costs $30,000. Thirty thousand dollars for one wedding, just one wedding, and that doesn’t take into account spending by guests on travel, attire or gifts. The average size of a guest list is 200 to 300 guests. Can you imagine the impact on the local economy by having just 30 additional weddings?
The average money spent on a wedding reception venue is $12,000. Those $12,000 are just for renting the space, not catering, favors or entertainment. Southern hospitality aside, we have beautiful winter weather; Mississippi isn’t known for its winter blizzards unlike other states recognizing same-sex marriage. Stunning plantation mansions, picturesque churches and a beautiful coastline are also in our favor. Want a beautiful winter wedding at a plantation mansion without freezing your or your guests’ bottoms off? Visit Mississippi! Have your wedding at one of our scenic locations and then honeymoon on the coast.
The 10 states and the District of Columbia, that have approved these unions, have already seen an increase in tourism, local business and government revenues. Estimations have placed the increase on Washington, D.C.’s economy to be $52 million over the next few years. Five million of the $52 million increase will just be in local government tax. Employment is expected to increase by at least 500 new jobs. Washington, D.C. also expects to see 11,000 new tourists visiting the capital to obtain a marriage license.
Mississippi would be the first state in the South to recognize these unions. We would have this new market all to ourselves. Yes, Louisiana, you have Mardi Gras but that is only once a year. Weddings are a year-round occurrence and a billion dollar industry. You could say the money spent on a wedding could be spent elsewhere in Mississippi. I agree, but a wedding is seen as a huge milestone in one’s life course. People will go into debt to celebrate these milestones. Why shouldn’t we take their money?
Delilah Schmidt is a semior majoring in  sociology. She can be contacted at [email protected].