Teh One Who Knocks
01-08-2013, 07:44 PM
By Anna M. Tinsley - The Star-Telegram
Dancers at strip clubs in Texas soon might have to add something to their attire: a state license to do their job.
State Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, has filed a bill to require employees at sexually oriented businesses - including dancers - to get a license and display it while working.
The conservative lawmaker said he hopes the measure, if it passes, might encourage women to find another line of work.
"They won't want to get a license as a stripper from the state of Texas," Zedler said of his legislation. "I think it would keep a lot of girls from getting involved in that lifestyle and basically wrecking their lives.
"This will force everyone to clean up their act," he said. "Overall, it will be a benefit to everyone concerned."
Zedler's bill, which also requires those getting licenses at sexually oriented businesses to take a class about human trafficking, appears to be the first proposal addressing sexually oriented businesses that has been filed for the 83rd Legislative Session, which begins today. But it's similar to past proposals filed in Texas and other states such as New York.
Texas lawmakers have passed sexually oriented business legislation through the years, such as the 2007 pole tax, a state-required $5 fee to get into a strip club geared to raise money for sexual assault prevention programs and healthcare for uninsured Texans. After being tied up in court for years, the Texas Supreme Court in 2011 said the tax could be levied, and the U.S. Supreme Court last year declined to weigh in on the case.
Difficult road
But some say Zedler may have a hard time moving his bill through the Texas Legislature this session because of other looming priorities.
"It may be overshadowed by other big conservative issues like school vouchers, education funding, Medicaid," said Allan Saxe, an associate political science professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. "However, it has been announced by some Republican leaders that this session will be very conservative, so this may be one 'side' issue that they may be willing to bring up and consider.
The human trafficking angle of the bill likely could generate support, but that may not be enough, said Mark P. Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston.
Especially, he said, because some will oppose the measure for "being puritanical," and others will oppose it for boosting government oversight of private businesses.
Zedler, who was among those more than a decade ago who formed Decency for Arlington to try to prevent a Hooters restaurant from opening near their Arlington neighborhood, said he filed the bill this year after talking to a woman at church about her daughter, who began waiting tables at a sexually oriented business and ultimately moved on to stripping, drugs and prostitution.
Requirements
He proposed a similar bill in 2007 that never made it out of committee. Under his bill this session, people who work at sexually oriented businesses such as strip clubs would have to apply for a license to do their job through the state.
To get that license, they would have to meet a variety of requirements, including being at least 18 and completing a course about human trafficking. No one convicted of crimes such as prostitution, obscenity, public lewdness or sexual assault would be eligible for a license.
The bill exempts certain businesses, including non-sexual nudist camps and companies that employ massage therapists and chiropractors. Educational programs at art schools or junior colleges that involve only one nude model also would be exempted.
Many details about the license would be left to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
But the bill states that anyone who receives a license would have to wear it while doing their job -- including dancers.
"They could wear it around the neck ... or on their shoes ... or attached to a head band," Zedler suggested.
Dancers at strip clubs in Texas soon might have to add something to their attire: a state license to do their job.
State Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, has filed a bill to require employees at sexually oriented businesses - including dancers - to get a license and display it while working.
The conservative lawmaker said he hopes the measure, if it passes, might encourage women to find another line of work.
"They won't want to get a license as a stripper from the state of Texas," Zedler said of his legislation. "I think it would keep a lot of girls from getting involved in that lifestyle and basically wrecking their lives.
"This will force everyone to clean up their act," he said. "Overall, it will be a benefit to everyone concerned."
Zedler's bill, which also requires those getting licenses at sexually oriented businesses to take a class about human trafficking, appears to be the first proposal addressing sexually oriented businesses that has been filed for the 83rd Legislative Session, which begins today. But it's similar to past proposals filed in Texas and other states such as New York.
Texas lawmakers have passed sexually oriented business legislation through the years, such as the 2007 pole tax, a state-required $5 fee to get into a strip club geared to raise money for sexual assault prevention programs and healthcare for uninsured Texans. After being tied up in court for years, the Texas Supreme Court in 2011 said the tax could be levied, and the U.S. Supreme Court last year declined to weigh in on the case.
Difficult road
But some say Zedler may have a hard time moving his bill through the Texas Legislature this session because of other looming priorities.
"It may be overshadowed by other big conservative issues like school vouchers, education funding, Medicaid," said Allan Saxe, an associate political science professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. "However, it has been announced by some Republican leaders that this session will be very conservative, so this may be one 'side' issue that they may be willing to bring up and consider.
The human trafficking angle of the bill likely could generate support, but that may not be enough, said Mark P. Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston.
Especially, he said, because some will oppose the measure for "being puritanical," and others will oppose it for boosting government oversight of private businesses.
Zedler, who was among those more than a decade ago who formed Decency for Arlington to try to prevent a Hooters restaurant from opening near their Arlington neighborhood, said he filed the bill this year after talking to a woman at church about her daughter, who began waiting tables at a sexually oriented business and ultimately moved on to stripping, drugs and prostitution.
Requirements
He proposed a similar bill in 2007 that never made it out of committee. Under his bill this session, people who work at sexually oriented businesses such as strip clubs would have to apply for a license to do their job through the state.
To get that license, they would have to meet a variety of requirements, including being at least 18 and completing a course about human trafficking. No one convicted of crimes such as prostitution, obscenity, public lewdness or sexual assault would be eligible for a license.
The bill exempts certain businesses, including non-sexual nudist camps and companies that employ massage therapists and chiropractors. Educational programs at art schools or junior colleges that involve only one nude model also would be exempted.
Many details about the license would be left to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
But the bill states that anyone who receives a license would have to wear it while doing their job -- including dancers.
"They could wear it around the neck ... or on their shoes ... or attached to a head band," Zedler suggested.