Changes to Tax Code Following Supreme Court Same-Sex Marriage Decision
On Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an epic 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. The opinion of the court was that it is the legal duty of all states to issue a marriage license to a couple (of legal age) wishing to obtain one, regardless of gender and sexual orientation. The decision, in other words, made same-sex marriage legal on a federal level; states will no longer be able to deny same-sex couples the right to marry – if they do, they'll be in violation of federal law.
Record Set for Improper Government Payments
Improper payments—or payments made to families and individuals who don't actually qualify for them—are made by the federal government every year. In 2014, though, the federal government set an all-time record high for improper payments, totally in at $124.7 billion, resulting in a $19 billion increase from the previous year.