Marriage license tax targets abuse
Starting Monday, fees to jump $5 to expand legal help

Divorce and domestic violence are probably the last things on the minds ofloving couples when they buy marriage licenses.
But statistics suggest they shouldn’t be, considering that half of allmarriages end in divorce and about a quarter of women will become victims ofabuse inside the home at some point in their lives.
Beginning Monday, counties across Illinois will impose a $5 fee on the costof marriage licenses to pay for legal counseling and services aimed at thestate’s growing number of domestic violence cases.
The Married Families Domestic Violence Fund, signed into law in January, isexpected to generate more than $400,000 a year statewide for agencies thatwork with embattled couples, revenue that supporters said would beparticularly valuable in rural counties that have been forced to scale back oreliminate programs amid funding cuts.
Though previous efforts have focused on getting abused women out ofthreatening situations and quickly into shelters, this law tries to give thosewomen a stronger presence in the legal system.
“We don’t have as many people today seeking shelters to fix the problem,”said Jacqueline Ferguson, director of operations of the Illinois CoalitionAgainst Domestic Violence. “Instead, they’re seeking counseling and legaladvocacy to address some of the bigger issues. I’d call that progress.”
But as counties increasingly look at raising fees for services and licensesto solve their own money woes, some wonder if the new marriage license taxwill hamper local government’s ability to increase funds for its needs.
“All this revenue is going to one cause. It’s a great cause, but it’s onlyone,” said Cook County Clerk David Orr, whose office will see fees jump to $35from $30. “I could see where some of the smaller counties that need to bringin more revenue might be concerned about that.”
Victims’ rights advocates have long fought to secure more money to helpwomen, and in some cases men, escape abusive relationships. In 1981, agenciespersuaded lawmakers to pass a law that taxed marriage licenses and divorcefilings to generate money for women’s shelters and domestic violenceassistance. However, the Illinois Supreme Court later overturned it becausethe language was too broad.
In the ensuing years, organizations such as the Illinois Coalition AgainstDomestic Violence, Family Rescue and the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’sNetwork took up the cause as even more state and federal dollars were strippedfrom domestic programs.
In 2004, the state cut funding for domestic violence shelters. Congressreduced funding for the Victims of Crimes Act – one of the key sources ofrevenue for states – by close to $75 million earlier this year. Illinois’share of the federal money dropped from more than $16 million to around $11.6million.
The shortfalls have forced 27 counties in southern Illinois to cutcourthouse advocates who work specifically with abused women by helping themunderstand their rights and apply for protective orders, referring them toshelters and shuttling them to and from court, Ferguson said.
Meanwhile, the need continues to rise, Ferguson said. Illinois courtsgranted more than 60,000 orders of protection in 2007, but two-thirds of womenseeking help never get it, she said.
The law “has the dual benefit of not only raising awareness about theproblems of domestic violence, it sets aside money to address it,” said DawnDalton, executive director of the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’sNetwork.
Some say a major plus of the tax is that sales of marriage licenses, likeso many other required licenses and permits, do not slow when prices increase.
“In theory, most people are only going to be buying one marriage license intheir lives. How will they know if prices are higher?” asked Will County ClerkNancy Voots, whose county will raise the cost to $28 from $23. “It’s not likepeople are going to stop getting married.”
That was the consensus among the giddy young couples who crowded the CookCounty marriage license office on a recent morning.
“I’m all for it,” said Chicago resident Robert Bannister, standing besidehis fiance. “Nobody really wants to have this on their mind when they’re inthe process of getting married. But hopefully it’s enough to get peoplethinking about the problems of domestic violence.”
Counties will collect the fees, but the attorney general’s office has theresponsibility to distribute them to qualified agencies.
The money will go toward legal counseling and restoring courthouseadvocates in counties that had scaled back or eliminated them.
It can also be used for legal fees in cases where abuse leads to divorce,officials said.
Said Chicago resident and bride-to-be Dolores Brown: “I think it’swonderful. It’s people like me and all the other women out there who have todeal with the threat of violence every day.”
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 jhood@tribune.com