Thursday, December 06, 2007

The New S (for "Strip")-CHIP

Finally, a government-sponsored health care financing scheme I can get behind. Indeed, I can immediately see through the layers of thinking that went into recent Lone Star State legislation:

"The new fee...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."

Granted, this seems an unusual pair, of issues; nevertheless, it seems to me that the $5 fee is modest enough. Specifically, it's a surcharge for consumers of certain entertainment venues. Since no one is forcing folks to frequent these facilities, this seems fair.

Of course, there are the usual nay-sayers, folks with an axe to, er, grind:

"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."

These ne'er-do-wells claim that the surcharge is actually a new tax (as in "sin tax" perhaps?) which would apparently be unconstitutional under current Texas law. It appears that in this case, the state's constitution is bumping up against a popular mandate.

I just hope that the politicians won't keep dancing around the issue.
blog comments powered by Disqus