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Lawmaker proposes border wall be funded by porn tax

Posted at 1:15 PM, Jan 23, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-23 13:15:53-05

An Arizona lawmaker is getting some national attention for her proposal on how to fund the border wall.

State representative Gail Griffin has introduced a new bill that would fund the wall by taxing pornography.

In downtown Tucson the proposal is getting an interesting reaction.

State Senator Gail Griffin has proposed H-B 2444.

It would require pornography distributors to block access to potentially obscene materials unless people paid a $20 tax.

The money would then go into a special fund used for everything from helping school districts to building a border wall.

Arizona Resident Ethan Fennell says, "You know everyone might use it but ultimately it is obscene so a tax on it makes sense I guess. If you are gonna indulge in something you should be able to give back to society."

Representatives of the pornography and adult entertainment industry though say Griffin's proposal is unconstitutional.

Michael Stabile of the free speech coalition says, "It's unconstitutional to tax speech regardless of whether or not it's pornography or political journalism."

State Senator Griffin said in an email, "The language for H-B 2444 was at the request of a constituent. The bill is not going anywhere. There is no story here."

Michael Stabile said, "You know our question to them would be then why did you put forward this stigma filled proposal?"

Griffin is the only legislator named on the bill.

So far it is not scheduled for any readings or votes, but it does have people talking.