State lawmakers gave final approval Thursday night to a long list of legislations, which one Missouri Democrat said would “kill small business” in Missouri.  The House passed the bill 118-28, and the Senate followed suit with a 27-4 vote, sending it to Governor Jay Nixon.   This move is happening in a state with a mid-year budget deficit that hovers around the $700 million mark.

The Missouri legislation would apply to strip clubs, adult video and book stores and other businesses of a sexual nature, including semi-nude model studios.

It would ban full nudity, alcohol, anyone younger than 18 and touching between semi-nude employees and customers. To ensure strippers are off-limits, the bill requires semi-nude employees to remain on a stage at least 18 inches high and at least 6 feet from customers in a room of at least 600 square feet.

The bill also requires sexually oriented businesses to close at midnight and prohibits them from locating within 1,000 feet of homes, schools, churches, libraries, parks, day cares or other sexually oriented businesses.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri, the bill not only violates free speech protections, but is also intended solely to put adult business in the state out of businesses.

“These laws appear to be designed to drive these businesses out of business,” ACLU representative John Coffman said in a February interview. “At some point, the over-regulation of a business simply because you don’t like that business or you don’t like the content that’s being viewed in those businesses would violate the first amendment.”

Sen. Jolie Justus, a Kansas City Democrat, opposed the bill, saying that in his city alone, the law would lead to the closure of 13 businesses and put hundreds of people out of work at a time when the city and the state need all the jobs they can get.

“There is a business owner in my district who came to me and said, ‘If this bill goes into effect without any changes, I have 140 employees that are going to be looking for work,” Justus said during debate in the Senate chamber Thursday. “Tonight, we’re going to kill an industry that brings in anywhere from $7 to $10 million in revenue…we’re going to kill small business tonight.”

According to State Senator Matt Bartle, “Most human beings understand that if you mix alcohol and women dancing in the nude, that’s a tough combo,” he said. “Bad things happen.”

The bill was stalled earlier this year by objections from some House Democrats. They said the bill infringed on the free market, cut into local control, placed religious and political viewpoints into law and would force some businesses to close, which would drive up unemployment and reduce state tax revenues.

Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, who voted against the bill, said “If we had a vote by secret ballot, this bill would die.”  “But everybody wants to be holier than thou.”