Louisiana state Rep. Kenneth Havard from Jackson proposed an amendment to a bill yesterday, then pulled it, which would limit the age and weight of exotic dancers. The Louisiana House was discussing bill No. 468, that would raise the minimum age of exotic dancers from 18 to 21. But that wasn’t what the amendment was about.

AMENDMENT NO. 1 On page 1, line 14, after "shall be" delete the remainder of the line and insert the following: "between twenty-one and twenty-eight years of age and shall be no more that one hundred sixty pounds in weight."

Wow. That’s some balls from a 45-year-old guy who weighs more than 160 pounds. Of course, state Rep. Havard has said that he was attempting a little Republican-style humor. The joke? How government tries to regulate everything!

State Rep. Kenny Havard, R-Jackson, filed what's known around the Capitol as a "joke amendment" that would have required strip club dancers to be no older than 28 and no heavier than 160 pounds. That resulted in an immediate rebuke from state Rep. Nancy Landry, R-Lafayette, and Havard withdrew the amendment. Although there was scattered laughter around the House chamber as members began to view it on their computer screens, state Rep. Julie Stokes, R-Kenner, was livid. She took to the floor of the House to slam Havard's amendment, holding it up as an example of the mistreatment of women in the Legislature, which is dominated by men. "I've never been more repulsed to be part of" the House of Representatives, Stokes said. "I can't even believe the behavior. I hear derogatory comments about women, I see women get treated differently than men. That was utterly disrespectful and disgusting."

Ha. Totally get it! Except, this bill is supposed to protect young people from human trafficking, and Mr. Havard isn’t a comedian, and this ain’t a nightclub. Havard, for his part was contrite.

"It was a poke at overregulating everything -- where are we going to stop?" Havard said. "It was aimed at both men and women. I can't strip either. I'm a little overweight."

The bill passed the House 96-0.