Sunday, March 15, 2009

Texas holds $11 million meant for sex assault services.

This strip club tax isn't a bad idea. Too bad it's getting such pushback from the public. Maybe "sex assault" is another word for "dating" in Texas.... From the Houston Chronicle:

DALLAS — Texas gentlemen’s clubs have paid the state more than $11 million in fees collected from patrons as part of a law enacted in 2007. But the money hasn’t gone to its intended purpose — funding sexual assault services for Texas counties without any — because of an ongoing First Amendment lawsuit.

The Texas Comptroller’s Office has collected $11.2 million from the $5-per-patron fee, but the money remains in state coffers because of the lawsuit, which pits the state against some of the sexually oriented businesses, The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday.

In addition, only some of the clubs are paying the money, and the $11.2 million is far short of the $40 million that legislative analysts projected for the law’s first year, the newspaper reported.

A state district judge struck down the law last year, saying topless dancing was protected as free speech and that the state couldn’t show a link between strip clubs and inadequate health insurance. The state has appealed.

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