Tolbert: AEDC Director Says No Study To Back Claim On Same-Sex Marriage

Tolbert Report

by Jason Tolbert ([email protected]) July 8, 2013 6:24 pm 103 views 

Arkansas Economic Development Commission director Grant Tennille went out on a limb today to argue that changing Arkansas’ constitution to allow same-sex marriage will help economic development by attracting new business.

I followed up with Tennille to see what study he had looked at to support his claim that allowing gay marriage would make Arkansas a jobs magnet. I mean surely our state’s chief job czar would carefully examine this issue before making such a claim at a press conference, especially considering the position is in direct opposition to his boss Gov. Beebe. Right?

Wrong.

Tennille tells me that he is “not aware that any studies have been undertaken,” but says that he based his claim in part on the fact that 22 companies on the Fortune 500 list – as well as 26 additional companies – “filed an amicus brief opposing DOMA at the appellate court level.”  Asked if any of these companies indicated they would locate in Arkansas if it were not for our state constitutional amendment on marriage, Tennille said “not yet.”

“Those lists include companies from many different sectors of the economy, but the presence of many of the largest tech companies is conspicuous,” said Tennille.  “These are the kinds of jobs that Arkansans ask me about every day; and I believe that these companies, increasingly, will factor issues of equality into their site-selection process. They will have to do so because the skills they require from their employees are in increasingly short supply. Those with the skills will have the opportunity to choose where they want to work. Some will be gay, others will be straight but support equality. They will choose to live and work in places that support the equal treatment of all of their co-workers, friends and neighbors. Furthermore, all of the data, including the poll released today, indicate that younger Americans don’t care about this issue. This change appears inevitable, and I would like to see Arkansas lead and reap whatever rewards may be forthcoming, rather than drag our heels, as we have historically, and pay a price for our intransigence.”

Tennille added, “I said what I said today because I am convinced that those communities and countries that are the most free have the most vibrant economies. There are 10,000 reasons why I would not want to live in New York or San Francisco, but I cannot deny that they have, for generations, attracted the brightest thinkers, the best ideas and the lion’s share of the capital. They have done so because they don’t care where you’re from, what language you speak, what religion you follow, or, today, with whom you sleep. If you are the best at what you do, that’s where you’ve gone in our country to make it big. I think that opening our minds is going to be the key to opening opportunity for this state.”

I like Tennille and think he has done a good job at AEDC, but it sounds to me like Tennille’s claim is based primarily on his own opinion and his political views not on any studies that same-sex marriage will actually attract new jobs.