Cheap thrills? Forget it. The cost of nude entertainment in California would rise under legislation that seeks a pound of flesh for, well, a pound of flesh.
Assembly Bill 2441 would slap a $10-per-person tax on nightclubs, bars or restaurants that combine booze with entertainment featuring partially nude or nude performers. Costs could be passed on to customers.
Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara, proposed the measure to generate money for sexual assault-related counseling, crisis intervention, rape prevention, community education, victim advocacy and evidence testing in rape cases.
Williams doubts that AB 2441 would dent demand for nude entertainment.
"Men will continue to go to strip bars – and you know what? They'll feel better about it because they'll be funding a needed service for women," he said.
Prospects for the idea appear dim. The bill requires a two-thirds supermajority to pass – including at least two GOP votes in the Assembly. Republicans have pledged not to raise taxes.
Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber and the Assembly GOP point man on budget issues, said Democrats need to quit pinpointing causes to use as leverage in seeking to extract more money from Californians.
"No means no. … To me, it's looking for justification to raise taxes," Nielsen said of the proposal.
>BY THE NUMBERS
Democrats dominate statewide, legislative and congressional offices in California, but its political matrix is more complex, a new Public Policy Institute of California study says: "On an ideological scale ranging from strong conservative to strong liberal, public opinion data show the average Californian falling in the middle and leaning slightly conservative."
>WORTH REPEATING
"The guy has acted like a jackass."
SENATE PRESIDENT PRO TEM DARRELL STEINBERG, saying he's not "completely shutting the door" on a vote to oust Dan Richards as Fish and Game Commission president over his mountain lion flap, but would prefer to see the Senate "stay focused on the people's priorities," such as the budget
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