By David Madden

CHERRY HILL, N.J. (CBS) – There’s a bid to eliminate New Jersey’s 72-hour waiting period for people wishing to get married in the state.

It’s a plan driven more by economics than emotions.

Cherry Hill assemblyman Lou Greenwald believes the change would help boost tourism, already a $40-billion industry in New Jersey.

“There is an opportunity in today’s new and technological age to change some of our existing statutes that are antiquated and outdated, and do so in a business-friendly way,” Greenwald told KYW Newsradio this morning.

Doing away with the waiting period isn’t the only thing the bill would do. It would also allow a couple to apply for a license in the town where the ceremony will occur, rather than where one of them resides.

Connecticut and Rhode Island are the only other states in the northeast without a waiting period before a wedding or civil union.   Twenty-seven other states do not require a waiting period.

Pennsylvania’s wait is three days, Delaware’s is one.