Last night, the Continental Club played host to a fundraiser for local burlesque performer (nay, superstar) Cardinal Cyn. She broke her leg back in March, and as is the Austin way, her fellow burlesque performers and some bands did what they do for sweet charity, to help get her back performing and walking without crutches again. But a thought: If earlier this year the Texas courts had not thrown out the surcharge on ill-defined ‘sexually oriented businesses” then, because there was some underwear on display, $5 of the $8 recommended donations would have been ripped straight out of her hand as a state-imposed ‘fee’.
Mercifully, the law that introduced the “Titty Tax”, House Bill 1751 from Rep. Ellen Cohen, D-Houston, didn’t pass the small test. A badly written law and, as was finally proven in court, an unconstitutional tax on content, it passed through the legislature only because it went through the House Ways and Means Committee. If it had gone through the Senate Finance and House Appropriations committees as it should have, it would have been rejected because their tax experts would have picked up on it. Instead, the Comptrollers Office was left scrabbling on how to create collection rules for an uncollectable tax, the state was left with a bloody nose, and yet again, proper medical care and sexual assault programs go unfunded.
Newsdesk wishes Cardinal Cyn a speedy recovery. And that the legislature actually starts funding worthy programs from the tax base, rather than try to impose morality taxes.
This article appears in June 6 • 2008.
