TOPEKA – A special panel of Kansas lawmakers agreed Wednesday to introduce a bill in January that would impose a 10 percent excise tax on X-rated adult entertainment businesses.

It would be applied to strip clubs and escort services as well as X-rated video products and books sold in adult book stores.

Rep. Kenny Wilk, a Lansing Republican and vice chairman of the Special Committee on Assessment and Taxation, said he expected a lot of legislative interest in the measure.

Rep. Shari Weber [pictured], a Herington Republican and the bill’s main supporter, went even further.

“I imagine that out of 165 legislators, there would only be a handful that would not support it,” she said.

One possible problem, however, might be legislators who have signed a pledge to vote against any tax increase and might perceive the 10 percent tax — even though it wouldn’t be paid by everyone — as breaking that oath.

“Every legislator has their own idea of what that pledge applies to,” she said. “Will it impact this bill? Absolutely. Once they have the opportunity to study the issue, however, I don’t think there will be much opposition.”

Even if the Legislature approved the bill and it was signed into law by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, it likely would face a court challenge from sex-oriented businesses.

John Ivan, a Merriam lawyer representing three adult video and book stores in Wichita, told the committee last month that such a law would violate the right of free speech and the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“Obviously, litigation would follow passage of such a law,” he said.

The Kansas proposal is modeled after a law passed last year in Utah and a proposal introduced earlier this year in Oklahoma. A lawsuit has been filed challenging the constitutionality of the Utah law.

One legal hurdle such a law might have to get over is whether the state could show a compelling reason to tax these businesses differently than others.

Wilk said he thinks there is a clear link between the availability of pornography and sex crimes. That was disputed by Ivan, who said last month that no reliable study had proven a link. Critics of the measure have pointed out that not everyone who buys pornographic material, for example, commits sex offenses.

Sen. Pat Apple, a Louisburg Republican, told the committee that not everyone who drinks is an alcoholic but that alcoholic products are taxed differently because of the harm alcoholics cause society.

Under Wilk’s proposal, money collected from the tax would be used for the prosecution and treatment of sex offenders.

Wilk admitted that there are several parts of the bill that haven’t been worked out.

For example, it is unclear from Wilk’s proposal whether the tax would be applied to regular video stores that keep X-rated videos in a back room.

There also is the question of whether the tax would be applied to X-rated movies ordered over cable television systems or from hotel rooms.

Mike Zrubek, who sells some adult items at a store in Salina called “Behind Closed Doors,” said it will be difficult for the state to regulate and tax all the outlets that sell adult products. For example, he said, books with sexual content are sold in many gas stations and convenience stores.

“Where do you stop?” he asked. “Are you going to tax magazines and condoms sold at grocery stores?”

Zrubek said the measure was aimed at driving adult entertainment businesses out of business.

Weber denied that she had proposed the tax to force these businesses to close. However, she said they should pay for the harm caused by the products they sell.

The Kansas Department of Revenue has estimated that the tax could generate about $1 million. Weber said that estimate is being revised and predicted the next projection will be higher.

“I don’t believe it’s going to go down,” she said.