The House has agreed to Senate changes to a piece of human trafficking legislation that bans 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds from working in adult entertainment, rescuing a bill that seemed doomed just weeks ago.
SB 796, which includes language from legislation from Republican Sen. Clay Yarborough and Republican Rep. Carolina Amesty to lift the age limit for performers and other employees of adult establishments from 18 to 21, was the basis for an amendment to the substituted House companion bill HB 7063.
The Senate passed that bill with just three "no" votes, and the House followed suit Friday with a 104-3 vote of its own.
In support of the amendment, Republican Rep. David Borrero said strip clubs were hotbeds of human trafficking and exploitation, with minors and undocumented immigrants serving as prey for owners of strip clubs, massage establishments and brothels.
"Strip clubs are safe havens for sex trafficking," Borrero said, wondering why people would want "teenagers" to be "targeted" in those dens of iniquity.
Democratic Rep. Michele Rayner spoke against the new language, meanwhile, framing it as a misguided attempt to "legislate values" and "control" women.
"We're caught up in something that should not be our business," Rayner said, adding that some of the legislators who would vote for this bill "like strip clubs."
She did not offer examples to support that claim.
The bills dealing with adult entertainment age limits had made progress in committees. But the measure seemed doomed before they became riders to the larger anti-human trafficking bill.
That larger bill would extend the future repeal date of the direct-support organization for the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, revise the human trafficking hotline telephone number and change rules on vendors licensed under the Beverage Law.
The House stand-alone bill dealing with stripper age restrictions did not get it on the Commerce agenda, and the Senate product was temporarily postponed in the Fiscal Policy Committee before the amendment to the larger bill gave it new life.
Under this legislation, owners would be subject to first-degree misdemeanor charges regarding those under 21 working in the clubs and other adult establishments. If those under 21 dare to bare, the penalty would be enhanced to a second-degree felony penalty for the proprietors.
Outside of the Legislature, questions abounded about what the bill would actually do. A February Criminal Justice Estimating Impact Conference meeting found that they couldn't guarantee the bill would subject any scofflaws to incarceration, tacitly raising questions about whether this high-profile slam of college girls stripping would accomplish anything other than punitive symbolism.
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