As the New Year rings in, Texas will levy a “pole tax” or “stripper tax” on patrons of the state’s strip joints.
That’s right, strip club patrons in Texas, break out your wallets because you will now be charged an extra $5. The proceeds of the tax will benefit rape victims in Texas.
“This is an industry that largely employs women, and this gives them an opportunity to raise funds for a crime that affects women,” said state Rep. Ellen Cohen, a Houston Democrat who sponsored the legislation.
Not to give up their dollars easily (those customers need those dollars for lap dances, no?), many of the clubs are filing suit claiming that the tax is unconstitutional.
How much money are we talking? Approximately 8 million people go to Texas strip clubs per year – so the levy should raise a cool $40 million.
I’ll go on record as saying that I’m not a fan of this tax – and not because I frequent strip clubs in Texas (I don’t) and not because I think it’s unconstitutional (I don’t). I actually think it’s ridiculously patronizing and I’m not sure what Rep. Cohen was thinking. Linking strip club proceeds to rape victim relief implies that the two are somehow inextricably linked. In most cases, “sin taxes” have some sort of tie from the behavior to the kitty (i.e. cigarette smoking proceeds tend to benefit healthcare, etc.). Yes, the industry employs women as a rule – but does that mean that we should have a lawyer tax to benefit prostate cancer? Just because something is a good cause doesn’t mean that you should glom onto whatever means that you can to raise money for it.
As a woman, I am always glad to see special attention paid to the victims of violence against women. But linking this tax to strip clubs send a subtle message that the two are somehow connected – and that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Do I like the idea of strip clubs? No. Do I want my girls to grow up to be strippers? No, in fact, we joke that our daughters could be anything that they wanted in life except strippers and lawyers and we were willing to bend on strippers.
But just because we don’t like something doesn’t make it taxable. I think this kind of law is capricious and patronizing and it doesn’t have a place in any state’s tax code.
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Saw this story, coming especially as it does in the holiday season, and I almost cried. Is nothing sacred anymore?
What’s next? A tax on babies’ smiles? On puppies?
On rainbows?
How about a tax on church services, at $5 per
head, with the proceeds going to victims of
religiously-motivated hate crimes? Just as fair.