Recently introduced into the Arizona House of Representatives, House Bill 2444 would require electronic manufacturers to install porn-blocking software on all electronic devices sold in the Copper State. Arizonans wanting to deactivate the software would have to pay a fee of at least $20 to the Arizona Commerce Authority after proving that they're at least 18 years of age.
The bill also notes that manufacturers and retailers would be able to tack on their own fees to remove the software, and that the fee could be changed on an annual basis. Anyone who deactivates the blocker without paying the fee would face a Class 1 misdemeanor charge, according to the bill.
Money collected from the tax would later be deposited into the John McCain Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Fund, which would be established by the bill once passed, under the direction of the chief executive officer of the Arizona Commerce Authority and the director of the state's Department of Public Safety.
Funds will be used to "uphold community standards of decency" and for the "developing, expanding or strengthening programs for victims of sex offenses," the bill reads, before listing 10 topics the funds could be used to tackle.
At the top of the list is, of course, supporting efforts to build a wall between Arizona and Mexico. Other listed grant purposes include providing physical and mental health services; temporary and permanent housing placements; assisting victims in employment placement, education and employment training; and compensating crime victims, among others.
But don't expect the bill to really go anywhere, especially considering the fact that similar past bills, which have popped up in Virginia, Alabama and Utah, died before amounting to more than news headlines.
"It's pretty clearly unconstitutional," Mike Stabile, a spokesperson for the Free Speech Coalition, told the Arizona Mirror in an article published Friday. And while the concept of taxing porn isn't brand new, Stabile added that "the border wall twist is new."
In order to pass the measure, the Arizona State House would have to offer up a two-thirds approval vote, but the bill reportedly only has Griffin listed as a sponsor.
In March 2018, lawmakers in Rhode Island withdrew their version of the anti-porn bill after realizing that the measure had been pushed by Chris Sevier, an anti-gay activist who previously made headlines for attempting to marry his laptop in protest over same-sex marriage. Sevier is also known for trying to sue Apple in 2013 for his addiction to pornography. He is believed to be behind this latest porn tax revival.
Stabile told the Mirror that Sevier has "been doing this all across the country," and that he's a "bit of a jokester."
The latest development comes as the partial US federal government shutdown is on day 32, having broken the previous record and become the longest shutdown in US history. The impasse between lawmakers and Trump began on December 22, 2018, over funding for Trump's border wall.
