The Oregon House today passed a bill by a 51–2 vote aimed at cracking down on illicit massage businesses.
House Bill 3189-A, sponsored by state Rep. Thuy Tran (D-Portland) and Sen. Kathleen Taylor (D-Portland), would increase the fine for operating such a business from $1,000 to $5,000 per violation; allow the Oregon Board of Massage Therapists to post signs in illegal businesses warning customers away; and increase the maximum charge for repeat offenders from a misdemeanor to a Class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $125,000 fine.
Tran, whose district in Northeast and Southeast Portland is home to illicit massage businesses along Sandy Boulevard and 82nd Avenue, testified on the bill last month before the House Judiciary Committee. Tran told her colleagues that such businesses are often staffed by women who have been trafficked and are forced into commercial sex acts…