Saturday, April 11, 2009

An update on a previous Doofus


Nevada State Senator Bob Coffin was our Doofus Of The Day #190 recently, for his proposal to tax prostitution in Nevada. There were all sorts of interesting (and problematic) questions raised by his idea.

It seems the good lawmakers of Nevada have agreed that his proposal was just too complicated to work.

Nevada lawmakers on Thursday defeated a proposed prostitution tax that had won support from brothel owners and working ladies willing to do their part to ease the state's $3 billion budget crisis.

Nevada, one of only two U.S. states that allow some prostitution, is reeling from a deep economic recession that has led to high numbers of foreclosures, dwindling tourism revenues and a gaping budget shortfall.

State Senator Bob Coffin, a Democrat, proposed levying a $5-per-customer service tax on patrons of some 20 legal brothels operating in rural Nevada, all of them outside Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County, where prostitution remains outlawed.

But a sharply divided Nevada state Senate committee voted 4-3 Thursday to kill the tax, which Coffin said would have raised an estimated $2 million a year.

Bordellos, which go by such names as the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, the Chicken Ranch and the Shady Lady Ranch, already are taxed by local governments. Brothels and their prostitutes also pay an annual $100 licensing fee each to the state.


There's more at the link.

Oh, well . . . no more 'pole tax' for Nevadans to worry about!



Peter

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