Lawmaker proposes strip club tax to fund sex trafficking victims' fund

A Tennessee lawmaker has proposed a bill that would force strip club customers to pay an additional $2 tax upon entrance that would go toward a sex trafficking victims' fund.

Rep. Darren, Jernigan, D-Old Hickory, said the bill is not an attack on adult establishments, but a small effort to fund beds at rehabilitative centers for girls and women who have been victims of sex trafficking.

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He said that in some cases women who have been victims of sex trafficking can see adult performance as an only alternative profession. 

"It’s not going to generate a lot of money because there are 20 or 30 strip joints in the whole state, but it would create some kind of victim fund that would go to the department of human services to run it and not only encourage the organizations out there providing beds but hopefully provide more beds than are out there."

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Jernigan said he became involved in the issue after participating in a ministry for victims at his church and hearing stories of victims no older than his own children. 

He said he wanted to advocate for victims as a legislator when he discovered a similar bill proposed in Texas.

As the measure is written, the tax would be on establishments whose businesses entail both nude performances and the sale or allowed consumption of alcohol.

Jernigan is still looking for sponsors for the measure and says he's gotten positive feedback, but could foresee push back from lawmakers saying the tax would impede on business.

"I also think a $2 charge is not that much," he said. "I think the young men and women who go to these clubs for bachelor parties and such will still pay the $2 to get inside."

Reach Reporter Jordan Buie at 615-726-5970 or at jbuie@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter @jordanbuie.