A measure that proponents say is part of the larger fight against human trafficking seemed to be dead for 2024, but it's alive as language in a bigger bill in the final days that passed the Senate by a 35-3 vote.
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 House already passed that bill, but the amended legislation will need to return to the House for final passage.
Republican Sen. Bryan Avila said the change "simply puts the Senate bill on the House bill."
Democrats raised concerns about the strip club language, but it was ultimately a moot point, as they said they'd support the bill anyway.
Sen. Bobby Powell wondered why the stripper language was added to the bill; Avila argued that adult entertainment clubs are hotbeds for human trafficking.
Yarborough, taking over for the bill sponsor, said he was "concerned" about those under the age of 21, suggesting "some clown" could "get a hold of her after work one evening and she's unable to go home and never sees her kids again."
Pressing for inconsistencies in the language, Sen. Jason Pizzo asked if filming pornography was legal under the new language. Yarborough said the bill didn't speak to that question of what they might do as a "freelance performer."
Pizzo noted that banning strip club performances could lead these same young people, now making upwards of $500 a night, into more dangerous situations.
He added that the language was motivated by Yarborough's "ideological position," and challenged Yarborough for an example of a strip club shut down for human trafficking purposes. Yarborough had no such examples or data.
"You're saying no, you can't do this," Pizzo said. "But you're not providing any other remedy."
Sen Democratic Leader Lauren Book, who noted she had been to a strip club with Sen. Danny Burgess for research purposes, said that if these girls couldn't perform, they might end up on "OnlyFans."
"I have a problem with going after a predominantly female profession and disallowing adults from doing a job," the Democratic Leader said, before noting she and others would vote for the amendment and the bill anyway.
The bills dealing with adult entertainment age limits had made progress in committees, but seemed doomed before they became riders to the larger anti-human trafficking bill extending the future repeal date of the direct-support organization for the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, revising the human trafficking hotline telephone number, and changing rules on vendors licensed under the Beverage Law.
The House bill 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 as part of a larger product.
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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