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Republican lawmaker wants to tax people who watch porn to fund Trump's border wall

Republican lawmaker wants to tax people who watch porn to fund Trump's border wall

Funding for Donald Trump's border wall and who will actually pay for it has always been a contentious issue.

Would it be Mexico or the American taxpayers? Well, it appears that a lawmaker in Arizona wants the latter to fund the wall, at least the ones that watch pornography.

Republican senator Gail Griffin has proposed the introduction of a bill that would tax anybody who watched porn on any device in the state of Arizona.

Her scheme would require any pornographic site to block access to internet users (aged 18 or over, of course) who have not paid a $20 fee to the state to view such material.

This fee is flexible and could be altered by the Arizona Commerce Authority depending on inflation. Any money raised would be put into a special fund for grants, government agencies or private entities.

WFLA 8 reports that some of these projects include the building of a Mexico border wall, the funding of border security, extra money for school districts and mental and physical health services, compensations for victims of crime and the construction of shelters.

The full text for 'HB 2444' can be read here.

In an email to KVOA, Griffin declined an offer for an interview but stated that 'the bill is not going anywhere'.

The language for HB2444 was at the request of a constituent. The Bill is not going anywhere. There is no story here.

Griffin is the only politician whose name is attached to the bill but, at the time of writing, it is not scheduled to be discussed at any committee calendar.

Despite this, there has been a backlash from the adult entertainment industry who are confused as to why Griffin would propose a bill that wouldn't be approved.

Michael Stabile of the Free Speech Coalition told KVOA:

It's unconstitutional to tax speech regardless of whether or not it's pornography or political journalism.

Our question to them would be why did you put forward this stigma-filled proposal?

HT ABC 13

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