AUSTIN, TX — Every worthy cause ultimately finds itself in need of funding in order to grow itself, spread its word, and effectively reach its targeted demographic. Some worthy causes are able to catch the sympathetic ear of lawmakers and fund themselves at least partly through tax dollars. Consumer items such as cigarettes and alcohol traditionally creak beneath the weight of so-called “sin-taxes.” Now a victims’ rights group wants to force Texas strip club patrons to fund sexual assault services.Although supporters of the tax insist that they are not claiming that strip clubs contribute to sexual assault, club owners and supporters aren’t buying it.
The Dallas Morning News quotes Angelina Spencer, executive director for the Association of Club Executives (ACE) as objecting to two proposed bills. “These taxes are a ruse to burden the club owner because somebody finds the business morally reprehensible. There is no evidence that links an increase in sexual assaults among women to adult entertainment clubs.”
The bills in question range from Representative Ellen Cohen’s (D-Houston) modest proposal of a $5 cover charge to Senator Royce West’s (D-Dallas) $5,000 annual registration fee for all sexually oriented businesses and 60 day notification of business arrival. West is also considering a tax on merchandise rented or sold in adult video or book stores, as well.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Cohen insists that her plan to raise money for sexual assault prevention, counseling, and treatment is not an attempt to suggest a cause and effect relationship between sexually oriented businesses and the crimes she hopes to help victims recover from. She does, however, insist that “I do know that money is being made as a result of women being objectified,” suggesting that her proposal is not made from a purely financial point of view.
A previous attempt to direct adult entertainment dollars into the government’s coffers failed in 2004, in part because the recipient was education, which many felt was an inappropriate association with sexuality and called by some a “tassels for tots” solution. At the time, it was estimated that such an industry fee would bring in between $35 and $45 million per year. Linking the tax to sexual assault is expected to be an easier sell.
Cohen, who has spent two decades as president and chief executive of the Houston Area Women’s Center would like to see the $12 million of the estimated $80 million collected from the clubs directed toward sexual assault programs. She and others also hope to use some of the funds to create solvency in the currently under funded Crime Victim’s Compensation Fund, which has seen its pockets picked in order to balance other budgets in the past. Any funds collected beyond the $12 million earmarked would be spent at the Legislature’s discretion.
Regardless of its worthy beneficiaries and their insistence that no accusations of association are meant, Specter finds the obvious insinuations about her industry offensive. “They are trying to make a connection where one does not exist to further stigmatize the industry. When you talk about sexual assault, you are trying to make this connection that women who work in adult entertainment are victimized,” she insists.
Texas Association Against Sexual Assault lobbyist Lawrence Collins insists that this is not true and that his group is sensitive to club concerns. “We are not on a moral crusade against the strip clubs,” he claims. “We aren’t making a representation that people who frequent these places are future sexual assaulters.” Ultimately, Collins assures club owners that an extra entrance fee will not affect business.
West, on the other hand, is quoted by The Dallas Morning News as using a classic Democratic cliché to justify the method by which he and Cohen hope to raise money, stating that “These people must have some disposable income, so they shouldn’t mind.”
