TALLAHASSEE, FL — Whether one sees it as a sign that the sex industry is being legitimized by the mainstream or a sign that the mainstream is eager to condemn but financially soak the sex industry – another state is hoping to bolster social service funding by slapping a tax on strip clubs and other providers of adult entertainment. Following the leads of Texas and New Mexico, Florida lawmakers have proposed House Bill 751, which would create a new sales tax exclusively for “adult entertainment services.” The goal? To raise spending money for low-income nursing home residents, the developmentally disabled, and other inhabitants of state-run facilities, including the state mental hospital.
According to Rep. Rick Kriseman (D-St. Petersburg), Medicaid dependent nursing home residents only receive $35 of “personal allowance” money each month; a number that has not risen since the late 1980s and which he feels is unfair and unreasonable.
Doubling that amount by slapping a tax on adult entertainment venues, however, strikes him as perfectly fair and reasonable.
Few will disagree with Kriseman’s opinion that “People need to at least have a quality of life for the time they have left,” however much they may disagree with his solution to the problem.
Kriseman doesn’t mind that dancers might make less money to take home to their families, including any developmentally disabled children they might be raising or elders they might be tending. “I’m sorry if I’m going to cost you the tip you were going to put in someone’s garter,” he told the Herald Tribune. “We’re not taking your lap dance. We’re taxing your admission.”
Although the bill has not yet been assigned a public hearing, Kriseman thinks it will have a better chance of success then other attempts to raise taxes, especially given its laudable goal. Among the items the politician says will be covered are haircuts and entertainment, neither of which is covered by care facilities.
Among the services likely to be taxed are “lingerie, bikini, or nude modeling; body shampoos or scrubs; private shower shows; peep shows; nude, semi-nude, or topless dancing; nude, seminude, or topless waitressing; lap, friction, couch, or table dancing; erotic massages or performances; nude photo sessions; and personal escort services.”
