You'd think states might learn from what happened to California's porn tax from a few years back - and you'd be wrong: Two New Jersey state lawmakers want to try passing a near copy of that ill-fated California law.
Assembly members Rose Marie Heck and Guy Talarico have introduced the bill they call the Adult Entertainment Tax Act. It would put a five percent tax on all adult entertainment "products and services," from videos to strip clubs and beyond, "the primary purpose of which is the sexual stimulation of humans."
The bill aims to send the tax dollars to domestic violence and child abuse programs, just like the failed bill by California state Sen. Charles Calderon in 1998. The premise, likewise, appears to be the much-questioned assumption that sexual depictions and images provoke such violence.
The Free Speech Coalition promises a full-out effort to block the law, which has been referred to the New Jersey Assembly Committee on Commerce, Tourism, Gaming, and Military and Veterans' Affairs.
