Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Iowans may have to cough up an additional 24 cents for every buck they spend on porn. And for that, they have “Big Dick” Taylor to thank. On a recent visit to some adult stores, Big Dick came to the conclusion that consumers didn’t mind spending a few hundred bucks on porn. So Big Dick has decided to re-route some of that money into state coffers.

Taylor, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, is sponsoring a bill that would slap a 24 percent surtax on gross revenues earned by retail stores selling “adult entertainment” products. His “porn tax,” as it’s now referred to around the Capitol, would be similar to the tax paid by Iowa’s racetracks and riverboat casinos.

And unlike some bills introduced in the Legislature, Taylor’s idea has been thoroughly researched.

Last fall, the sturdy, plain-talking electrician was cruising down Interstate 80 on his way to Des Moines when he noticed that a new “Adult Superstore” had taken over a defunct truck stop along the highway near Colfax. It’s one of several such stores popping up around the state.

The parking lot was jammed.

And Taylor was curious, for public policy purposes of course.

“I was thinking about how we’re short of money and everything here in the Legislature,” Taylor said. “So when my wife got here we drove out, went in and looked it over.”

“I’ve never been in one before,” he said.

They were not shocked. After all, the Taylors raised two kids — an accountant and a deputy sheriff. Taylor is a Navy veteran who saw combat in Korea. He’s been to a few taverns in his day, although he says that’s no longer his style.

They were surprised, however, both by the atmosphere and by the sheer volume of dollars they saw changing hands. They hovered near the cash register and watched the booty pour in.

“They’re very clean, real clean. A lot cleaner than here,” Taylor said, pointing down at a Capitol rotunda floor covered in a dull grime left by a herd of lobbyists.

“They’ve got lights like a hospital room, just all kinds of lighting,” Taylor said. “The magazines are sealed in plastic. They rent videos, and there are rooms in the back where you can rent ’em and watch `em there.”

But the Taylors hadn’t quite seen enough. They also visited a couple of adult stores in Des Moines. Business was booming. At one shop they watched some 50-something women haul out more than $300 worth of videos.

“We stayed for 20 minutes. We figured we stay any longer than that they’d think we were going to rob the joint,” he said.

But the Taylors didn’t buy a thing. “I wouldn’t pay $80 for one of those magazines,” Rep. Taylor said.

He did come up with a unique way to raise a little state revenue. And he’s received some key support. Rep. Jamie Van Fossen, R-Davenport, chair of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, and the panel’s ranking member, Rep. Don Shoultz, D-Waterloo, are among the bill’s growing list of supporters.

“It truly is a sin tax,” Van Fossen said.

But Taylor concedes he faces an uphill battle in an election year. He said too many of his fellow lawmakers have promised not to raise taxes. With some voters, nothing is more obscene than a tax hike.

There has been very little opposition to his bill, however. Van Fossen received a couple of anonymous e-mails complaining about the legislation. But so far, the adult entertainment industry has not hired a Statehouse lobbyist.

Taylor is certain that, eventually, his bill will become the law of the land.

“The reason it wasn’t done a long time ago is nobody thought of going in and checking them out. Legislators don’t hang out in these type of places,” Taylor said.