SANTA FE, NM — Taking a cue from Texas and apparently adhering to the political cliché that if a person or business has money, then the government has a right to tax it, New Mexico is investigating the possibility of a “pole tax” of sorts on strip clubs.Democratic Sen. John Grubesic insists that his desire to affix a $5 per customer tax on the state’s strip clubs is not a moral statement.
“This is in no way making any comment on strip clubs – whether we don’t need them, whether we need them,” Grubesic assured KOAT TV in Albuquerque, NM. “I just thought of it as an alternative source to come up with some revenue.”
As is often said when discussing other people’s money, Grubesic insists that “It’s $5. That’s nothing. I think beer in these places runs around five bucks.”
Unsurprisingly, the two clubs in communication with KOAT did not report sharing the senator’s enthusiasm for using the popularity of their entertainment options as a way to ease the state’s budget crunch.
Taxation rights aside, opposition arguments will likely address the fact that the money collected will go toward funding sexual crimes prosecutions and treatment, two things industry supporters contend have been unfairly linked to the adult industry and should be funded across the board.
