(SF)

AUSTIN -- A coalition of strip clubs has filed a lawsuit seeking to block a state law that would add a $5 surcharge for every strip club visitor.

The new fee, which was approved this year by the Texas Legislature, is set to take effect on Jan. 1. It's expected to raise about $40 million to be dispersed for sexual assault prevention programs and health care for the uninsured.

The Texas Entertainment Association and Karpod, Inc., the operator of an Amarillo club, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Travis County against Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Comptroller Susan Combs.
Click here to find out more!

The lawsuit argues that the fee would amount to an unconstitutional tax on nude dancing, a form of expression protected by the First Amendment. It also says the measure unfairly targets strip clubs, while not including modeling studios and adult video arcades. Strip club owners have said that the fee unfairly links their customers to rape.

"Exotic nude dancing is protected speech under the First Amendment," the lawsuit says. "It (the fee) singles out income derived from protected speech for a burden the state places on no other income."

The state doesn't keep a record of how many strip clubs there are in Texas, but the comptroller's office says there are 151 sexually oriented businesses that serve alcohol.

Officials from the attorney general's office said they will seek to uphold the fee.

Rep. Ellen Cohen, a Houston Democrat who supported the fee, said the strip club owners didn't speak up when the bill was designed.

"I didn't hear from them then," she said. "If this money gets held up, it's very detrimental to what we're trying to do."

Annette Burrhus-Clay, executive director of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, said she was disappointed by the lawsuit.

"We were really hoping this industry would see this as an opportunity to do something positive for the communities they're in," she said. "We're going to fight it because we believe in the merits of our position."

An attorney for the plaintiffs declined comment.

A hearing on the case hasn't been set, but the plaintiffs hope it will be before the surcharge takes effect next month.

The surcharge funds aren't due to the comptroller's office until April, meaning the agency could choose to hold onto the money and not disperse it until the case is resolved.

__________________
Put me on wheels and I'll turn tricks.

Clever? Nah, I ran out of that years ago. But if you find this, let me know, k?
"The road goes ever on..." ~ Tolkien

In memory of my friend skip...
Go then, there are other worlds than these