CARSON CITY, NEV. — With its gleaming Vegas Strip and stucco sprawl, Nevada has portrayed itself as a model of the civilized West. But every so often, such as Tuesday, holdovers from its boisterous beginnings show up at the Capitol -- and they are named Chicken Ranch, Pussycat Ranch and Shady Lady.
Here's Nevada's dirty little secret: Many lawmakers would like to keep the state's legal brothels a dirty little secret.
Never mind the Silver State's history of profiting off taboos or the potential cash a state tax on prostitution could bring. Each time legislators have considered such a tax, they've reacted with all the squeamishness of a teenager whose parents want to talk about the birds and the bees.
But with Nevada facing a budget gap as big as $3 billion and potentially huge cuts to education and social services, state Sen. Bob Coffin convened a hearing Tuesday in Carson City to discuss a state tax on prostitution. (Local governments already tax the bordellos.)
If only for an afternoon, legislators were forced to reconcile the Nevada of madams and gunslingers with the Nevada of multinational corporate giants.
"Can we be so proud as to refuse money that is offered from a legal business?" Coffin, a Democrat, asked at the hearing's outset.
Over the next few hours, brothel owners thanked lawmakers for even letting them in the building. They used the word "respectability." A lot. Three legal sex workers advocated for the proposal, while prostitution researcher Melissa Farley derided the whole thing as an "act of legislative pimping."
Through it all, some lawmakers lowered their eyes and squirmed. Democratic Sen. Terry Care made a point to tell the packed hearing room that his silence should not be construed as approval.
"I don't agree it's respectable, and I don't agree it's acceptable," he said. "It is legal."
The brothels, which are banned in the counties that include Reno and Las Vegas, are a mixed blessing for the state. Their mere existence helps Vegas sell itself as Sin City, and the HBO show "Cathouse," set at the Moonlite BunnyRanch, essentially advertises Nevada's illicit offerings. But when, for example, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) wanted to needle Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), he mistakenly claimed Reid supported a taxpayer-funded "red light express" train from the BunnyRanch to Disneyland.
The brothel owners' desire for respectability goes back years.
