Nudie bar fee would fund sex assault prevention

There's an interesting legislative battle brewing in Austin over the appropriateness of a tax that would go toward funding sexual assault prevention, response and counseling. No one would oppose a measure supporting that work, would they? Ah, you'd be surprised: There's opposition when the funding is tied to the adult entertainment industry.

At issue here is a $5 fee that would be added to price of admission to adult entertainment clubs, which was proposed in a bill sponsored by state Rep. Ellen Cohen (D-Houston). The fee could bring in $87 million over the next two years — that's 17.4 million admissions to adult businesses — money which Cohen wants to direct to grants for programs providing crisis hotlines, crisis intervention, public education, advocacy and crisis intervention volunteer training. In addition, $12 million of the revenue would go to a variety of statewide programs including training for police, rape and domestic violence research and victim assistance coordinators in local DA offices.

There was a hearing on the bill at the Capitol yesterday, during which several assault victims and victims' advocates testified about their personal experiences. As the Chronicle notes, the fact that there was a hearing means Cohen's bill has gotten farther than other similar proposals in the past, including a sin tax Gov. Rick Perry suggested in 2004 to support public school funding — that one, dubbed "tassels for tots," never got off the ground. Cohen, who is executive director of the Houston Area Women's Center insists her proposal is different: "This is not a sin tax," she said. "I'm not trying to demonize the industry or legislate morality."

We're not sure folks in the adult entertainment industry will see it quite that way, especially considering that the tax appears, however tenuously, to link sexually oriented businesses with sexual assault. That's part of the reason the proposal won't work, said Steve Swander, a First Amendment lawyer: "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."