California- Sex is safe – from higher taxes.
X-rated entertainment won't be tapped to help solve California's massive budget woes.
Legislation died in an Assembly committee this week that would have slapped higher taxes on businesses that sell or produce sexually explicit shows, films, books, magazines or Internet programming.
Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, had proposed to target X-rated entertainment in much the same way that the state does cigarettes: Impose higher taxes to curb the harm it creates.
Calderon's Assembly Bill 2914 stated that adult entertainment causes numerous health, safety and societal problems, including reducing property values in affected neighborhoods and encouraging unsafe sex and aggressive attitudes toward women.
Opponents argued that their sex life is none of the Legislature's business and that singling out adult materials would violate free-speech rights and be difficult to enforce or define.
Calderon contended his bill would survive court challenges because it targets the financial impacts of adult entertainment without casting judgment on the content.
AB 2914, in its findings and declarations, said that the taxes under the measure "are not intended as a prohibition of legally protected forms of expression."
AB 2914 was expected to raise about $260 million annually to be placed into a special fund to reduce negative impacts.
The additional sin-tax revenue conceivably could have replaced some existing state funds used for various health and public safety programs, according to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
