80th Legislature: Strip Club Fee Passes Committee
Vince Leibowitz | Mar 15, 2007 | Comments 0
The bill to add a $5 state admission fee to strip clubs passed out of committee in the House. The fee will raise an estimated $87 million for sexual assault prevention and response.
One opponent of the bill did raise a concern which we raised here at Capitol Annex, that the bill may not be constitutional:
Steve Swander, a First Amendment lawyer who is against the bill, said the legislation does not pass constitutional muster.
“It’s a way for government to discourage people from attending these bars,” he said. “It creates the impression that sexually oriented businesses are linked to sexual violence.”
That’s not the constitutional argument I expected, though.
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Filed Under: 80th Legislature
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would welcome their, uh, money), but evidently they do, because the adult entertainment industry (a nice way of putting it) is suing the state over the $5 cover charge law passed during the 80th Legislature . If you’ll recall, Capitol Annex told youwe expected serious constitutional challengesto this law during the session. From the DMN: Lawyers for Texas’ adult entertainment industry are asking a judge to block a state-mandated $5 cover charge at strip clubs – money that, starting Jan. 1, will be collected to fund sexual assault
