Bill bans Minn. workers from hotels with TV porn

Minnesota government employees are already under orders to hunt for bargains when traveling at taxpayer expense. They soon may be forced to check out a hotel's channel guide before checking in - and stay away if pay-per-view porn is offered.

Legislators are considering a bill that would prevent state workers from booking rooms at hotels or meeting facilities where customers can order pornographic films, specifically those that link sex with violence.

"This bill is not about policing personal choices," Sen. Tarryl Clark, the bill's sponsor, testified during a recent Senate committee hearing. "The bill is about taking another step in reducing sexual violence in our society."

The St. Cloud Democrat's bill passed the Senate panel last week, and is scheduled for debate in a House committee Wednesday.

The economic impact of the proposal is unclear. The state has more than 50,000 employees, but the Department of Administration couldn't provide The Associated Press with a breakdown on how much employees spend on travel lodging. Clark's bill would apply only to in-state hotels and meeting facilities.

Kathryn Potter, a spokeswoman for the American Hotel and Lodging Association, which opposes the bill, said hotels should have the option to offer the films. It's unclear how many hotels in Minnesota would be affected.

"This is an amenity that hotels provide just like they do pools or room service," she said during an interview. "It's something you can choose to use or not."

Potter said its unclear how much the bill would cost local hotels, but said they likely make money from offering the films otherwise they'd discontinue the service.

The proposal was drafted after a member of Minnesota Men's Action Network, an alliance to prevent sexual and domestic violence, approached Clark after not being able to find a "clean" hotel last spring for one of its events.

Other groups quickly signed on, including the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Executive director Donna Dunn said the legislation doesn't target adult movies on cable channels like Showtime or HBO.

"It's those extra services that you pay for that show degrading and body-punishing sex," she said during an interview, reading off an eight-page list of pornographic titles she compiled from hotel lists, including "Quick and Nasty" and "Hustlers Barely Legal."

Clark's bill offers an exception when employees can't find or afford a porn-free hotel, requiring they submit a written excuse and hotel receipt describing the circumstances. The bill also requires the Department of Administration to keep a directory of approved hotels to help employees plan.

Anti-porn groups say Minnesota is at the front of a movement for so-called "clean hotels."

The Citizens for Community Values coalition, a Cincinnati-based Christian nonprofit, has created a Web site, cleanhotels.com, for people who want to find hotels that don't offer porn. Coalition President Phil Burress said he hopes the Minnesota bill will encourage other states to consider similar legislation.

"People think we are talking about movies with a love scene, but it's not that," he said. "It's the degrading, triple-X rated movies. The hard-core stuff that can really be harmful to children, women, families."

Among the "clean" hotels listed by cleanhotels.com in Minnesota are four "clean" hotels in Minneapolis, all owned by Marriott, and five porn-free hotels in Duluth, including a Days Inn, Super 8 and a Best Western Hotel. While the chains offer pay-per-view, those individual hotels removed porn from their rooms, something Clark and bill advocates hope other hotels in the state will do.