Kalamazoo) \nEAST LANSING, MI - A lower state House committee is mulling a thirteen-bill package to restrict adult video stores, strip clubs, massage parlors, and other adult-oriented businesses. The bills would mandate, among other things, background checks of the owners of any sex-related business and an annual oversight of all owners.
The Michigan House Constitutional Law and Ethics Committee plans hearings on the package, which Speaker Chuck Perricone (R-Kalamazoo) says will "focus on the criminal histories of these shop owners, and I think you would be surprised to see what kind of records these people have."
The package is said to have received large grassroots support, according to Excite.com, with law enforcement officials believed to be getting behind it, too. But key state Democrats like Dennis Denno say the party isn't backing the bill because it's not a priority for Michigan voters this year.
