Tits-for-Tots (strip club “pole tax”)

“Tits for tots” (a pun on “tit-for-tat”) was the nickname pf a proposed 2004 Texas strip club tax that would, supposedly, have raised revenue for the education of Texas children. The humorous name helped to kill the proposal.
 
In 2011, a legal challenge to another Texas strip club tax (jocularly called a “pole tax”) failed as the tax—this time to fund sex victims—was judged to be constitutional.
       
 
Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary
tit for tat \ˌtit-fər-ˈtat\
Definition of TIT FOR TAT
: an equivalent given in return (as for an injury) : retaliation in kind
— tit–for–tat adjective
Origin of TIT FOR TAT
alteration of earlier tip for tap, from tip (blow) + for + tap
First Known Use: 1556
     
Galleywinter—Texas Music—Forums
Sara
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 6:49 pm  
Post subject: that crazy rick perry… 
my friend, who just had lunch with her highly political (and democratic) dad, and said:

He updated me on the TX legislature and their debate on Public School Reform…they are eliminating “Robin Hood” which means schools with money give part to schools w/ none. They are proposing different avenues to bring in $ for public school. The most innovative idea was brought forth by Rick Perry: charging tax to people to go to strip clubs{an actual proposal}.
 
The Democrats are calling this proposal: “Tits for Tots”.
     
DemocraticUnderground—LittleClarkie’s Journal
Three days in the life of a Kerry volunteer (longish)
Posted by LittleClarkie in General Discussion: Presidential (Through Nov 2009)
Sun Oct 17th 2004, 11:14 PM
(...)
She talked about how Bush screwed up Texas, about the lapdancing tax for education initiative—nicknamed “Tits for Tots.”
 
Austin (TX) Chronicle
Top 10 State Stories
Our state leaders bumble through the year
Fri., Jan. 7, 2005
(...)
After weeks of dithering, hallmarked by hapless proposals of topless bar taxes (“Tits for Tots”) and a very public House rejection (126-0) of Perry’s own plan, the session faded into futility – and despite numerous rumors and threats, never convened again. Welcome back.
 
Austin (TX) Chronicle
Return of the Titty Tax
New ‘nudity’ tax could include not just strip clubs but cabarets, bars, fashion shows, and even mainstream theatres
By Richard Whittaker, Fri., Dec. 7, 2007
Define “nude.” If you think it means no clothes, think again. Now define “sexually oriented business.” If you’re thinking adult store or topless bar, wrong again. A new admission surcharge, which its Legislature sponsors say is just supposed to affect Texas strip joints, could in fact sweep up cabarets, bars, fashion shows, and even mainstream theatres – while potentially violating both the First Amendment and the state tax code.
(...)
n 2005 a similar surcharge bill, proposed by the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault and backed by Gov. Rick Perry, would have dedicated the cash to public education, but it was widely ridiculed as “Tits for Tots” and rejected by the Lege.
 
Houston (TX) Press
Courts
Strippers to Fund Sex Victims: Court Okays “Pole Tax”
By Kimberly Reeves
Fri., Aug. 26 2011 at 3:31 PM
The state’s so-called strip club pole tax is not a violation of free speech, the Texas Supreme Court said today, sending the ongoing legal challenge of the fee back to the trial court on state constitutional issues.
 
Then-freshman Houston Representative Ellen Cohen navigated the rough waters of a Republican-heavy House to get the strip club fee passed in 2007. It was, in fact, a recycled idea proposed by Governor Rick Perry back in 2005 to pay for school finance, which led to its rather unfortunate “tits for tots” nickname. Nix that. Revised and resurrected two years later, the fee’s largesse, once passed, was to support survivors of sexual assault.