New Michigan Bill Will Tax Adult Entertainment Facilities to Fund DV Programs
SB 0044, a new Michigan bill, is:
A bill to impose a state excise tax on persons engaged in the business of operating an adult entertainment facility..."Adult entertainment facility" means a business, nightclub, bar, restaurant, bookstore, video store, or similar commercial enterprise at which a nude or partially denuded individual...
The rate of the excise tax is $3.00 for each entry by each customer admitted into the adult entertainment facility...
The collections from the tax imposed under this act shall be deposited in the domestic violence prevention and treatment fund.
In 2007 I wrote about a similar Texas law to charge strip club patrons an extra fee to fund rape crisis centers. I wrote:
I've never been a fan of strip clubs--I see them as being rather dehumanizing both for the strippers and for the male patrons. However, this new Texas law to tax male strip club patrons to fund rape-crisis centers is another example of how our society stigmatizes and punishes male sexuality. According to the Associated Press:
In what some have dubbed the 'pole tax,' the Lone Star State will require its 150 or so strip clubs to collect a $5-per-customer levy, with most of the proceeds going to help rape victims. The tax goes into effect on New Year's Day.
Club owners and some of their customers say the money is going to a noble cause, but they argue that the tax infringes on their First Amendment right to freedom of expression, that it will drive some bars out of business and that it unfairly links their industry to sex crimes...
The strip clubs are suing to block the tax, which state officials estimate will raise more than $40 million a year, based on liquor sales figures...
Strip clubs occupy a mythic place in Texas lore as a spot where young women can work their way through college and small-town girls with dreams of Hollywood stardom get their start on the lowest rung of show biz...
Some customers and clubs say it is not the extra five bucks; they resent the implication that strip clubs lead men to commit sex crimes.
[One club owner says his club] already pays the state $1.3 million a year in taxes, and the topless tax will be an additional $60,000 per month...
In their lawsuit, the clubs said nude dancing is protected by the First Amendment and the state can't selectively tax it, even if it is conduct some may find offensive...
Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law expert at George Washington University, said the Texas tax goes too far.
"It seems clear legislators are targeting strip clubs because they're unpopular," Turley said. "Laws like this would expose any unpopular industry to punitive taxes. It could be abortion clinics."
The full article is Texas Slaps a Tax on Strip Clubs (Associated Press, 12/22/07).
Another question--according to the article, state Rep. Ellen Cohen, the Texas legislator who sponsored this bill, just happens to be the president of a women's center which could get funding from the bill. Isn't that a bit of a conflict of interest? Or do we close our eyes to it because the bill addresses female victims? Or are conflicts of interests only an issue for male politicians?
The Texas tax was later declared unconstitutional--according to the Associated Press:
A $5-per-customer fee on strip club patrons dubbed the 'pole tax' has been declared unconstitutional. A state district judge ruled Friday that clubs can't collect the fee. The charge went into effect in January and was expected to raise about $44 million for sexual assault prevention programs and health care for the uninsured.
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