Having determined that Vermont marriage stat-
utes excluded same-sex couples from marrying, the
court rejected the state’s argument that same-sex
marriages would harm citizens by weakening the
link between marriage and child rearing. Re-
sponding to an argument that potential lack of inter-
state conformity might result from a legal recogni-
tion of same-sex marriages in Vermont, the court
pointed out that Vermont allowed for certain mar-
riage contracts not recognized by other states, such
as first-cousin marriages, and noted that such con-
cerns had not prevented the passage of similarly
unique laws allowing same-sex couples to adopt. Fur-
ther, the court held that the state is required to ex-
tend to same-sex couples the benefits and protec-
tions that flow from marriage, whether the goal is
procreation or some equivalent domestic partner-
ship. Dismissing other arguments, such as those con-
cerning the “stability” of same-sex couples, the court
held that that reasoning was too nebulous or specu-
lative to be considered. That contention would not
justify the inequalities placed on those couples in
permanent relationships. The same situation could
exist as well in male-female partnerships.
Impact The decision led to the state’s and the na-
tion’s first civil union law, intended to provide com-
mitted same-sex Vermont couples with the benefits
and obligations parallel to those afforded to mar-
ried heterosexual couples. In the years following this
decision, most states in the United States have con-
fronted the issue of same-sex marriage with varying
results.
Further Reading
Eskridge, William N.Equality Practice: Civil Unions
and the Future of Gay Rights. New York: Routledge,
2002.
Mello, Michael.Legalizing Gay Marriage. Philadel-
phia: Temple University Press, 2004.
Wolfson, Evan.Why Marriage Matters: America, Equal-
ity, and Gay People’s Right to Marr y.New York: Si-
mon & Schuster, 2004.
Marcia J. Weiss
See also Defense of Marriage Act of 1996; Domes-
tic partnerships;Egan v. Canada; Homosexuality and
gay rights; Marriage and divorce.
Balanced Budget Act of 1997
Identification Legislation aimed at reducing the
federal deficit and increasing the solvency of
many social programs
Date Signed into law on August 5, 1997This act made several changes, particularly to the Medicare
program.During the 1990’s, the Clinton administration and
the U.S. Congress made great strides toward elimi-
nating the record budget deficits that they inher-
ited. This was accomplished through a number of
shifts in policy and the enactment of new laws aimed
at reducing the deficit and moving the nation to-
ward a budget surplus. Among these pieces of legis-
lation was the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L.
105-33).
This was an omnibus bill, meaning that it con-
tained several (sometimes diverse) subjects or pro-
visions in a single bill. The act included provisions
dealing with food stamps, housing, children’s
health, Medicaid, and even the auctioning of recap-
tured space in the television broadcast spectrum.
However, the primary focus of the act was the
Medicare program. In fact, the Balanced Budget
Act made roughly 240 changes to the Medicare pro-
gram alone, and these changes were expected to re-
sult in cost savings of approximately $115 billion.
The bulk of the savings were to come from two pri-
mary areas: a change in the growth rate of reim-
bursements for fees for service providers and an
increase in the out-of-pocket expenses paid by pro-
gram beneficiaries in the form of higher premiums
and copayments for services. In addition, the act
added something called Medicare + Choice (now
Medicare Part C) as an alternative to the traditional
Medicare Parts A and B, which recipients had en-
joyed since the inception of the Medicare program.
The “choice” was that the act increased the number
of private insurance carriers that could contract
with the government to give options for senior citi-
zens receiving Medicare. While the option to add a
supplemental, private plan allowed for the possibil-
ity of getting wider coverage with lower out-of-
pocket expenses, it also made the system more com-
plex for beneficiaries.Impact If the sole goal of the Balanced Budget Act
of 1997 was fiscally related, it would appear that the76 Balanced Budget Act of 1997 The Nineties in America