Texas strip clubs alter argument against $5-per-customer fee
GOP tax hike of $40 million
By the Associated Press, Dallas Morning News
Texas strip club owners redirected their argument against the state's pending $5-per-customer surcharge, calling the fee an occupation tax that violates the state constitution. The Texas Entertainment Association and Karpod Inc., the owner of an Amarillo club, want a judge to stop the state from collecting the fee, which the Legislature approved earlier this year and takes effect Tuesday. Lawmakers dedicated the income from the fee – projected to be more than $40 million – for sexual assault prevention programs and health care for the uninsured. The clubs' association sued Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Comptroller Susan Combs earlier this month. In a motion for partial summary judgment filed Friday, the clubs argued the new fee violates the Texas Constitution's requirement that a quarter of the revenue generated by all occupation taxes must be set aside for public schools. "Obviously, that's a constitutional requirement that cannot be ignored by statute," said David B. Brooks, an Austin lawyer and author of "Texas Practice: County and Special District Law." Brooks is not involved in the case. Also in the Friday filing, the clubs argued in the fee is not "an equal and uniform occupation tax" because it doesn't apply to businesses such as nude modeling studios and adult arcade theaters. The tax is thus unconstitutional, the clubs argued.

Judge blocks Oregon law allowing civil unions
By The Oregonian
A federal judge Friday blocked Oregon's new domestic partnership law for gays and lesbians from taking effect next week, allowing opponents to continue their efforts to try to get voters to overturn the law. The surprise ruling comes four days before the law would allow gay couples to gain most of the same legal benefits of marriage. Couples across Oregon were planning to show up at county offices Wednesday to register as partners. But U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman ruled that they will have to wait. He set a Feb. 1 hearing to decide a lawsuit challenging the state's methods for verifying signatures on a November 2008 referendum. Mosman said attorneys for opponents showed that the rights of voters may have been violated if their signatures were wrongly rejected. Setting the next hearing in a month reduces the harm to people who would be affected by the new law, he said.

Trial Delayed Due to LSU-Ohio St. Game
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Jackson Sun
Justice can wait until after the LSU game. A state judge near the home of the Tigers has agreed to postpone a trial scheduled to start on the same day LSU plays Ohio State in the BCS national championship game. Stephen Babcock, an attorney defending Imperial Casualty Insurance Co. in a lawsuit over a car crash, requested the delay because he has tickets to the Jan. 7 game at the Superdome in New Orleans. He and other LSU fans have rented out the second floor of a Bourbon Street bar for a pre-game tailgate party. In his written request for a new trial date, Babcock refers to Ohio State as "Slowhio" ("due to their perceived lack of speed on both sides of the ball") and notes that Allstate, sponsors of the Sugar Bowl, are not a party in the insurance case. "All counsel to this matter unequivocally agree that the presence of LSU in the aforementioned contest of pigskin skill unquestionably constitutes good grounds therefor," Babcock wrote. "In fact we have been unable through much imagination and hypothetical scenarios to think of a better reason." Babcock, whose law office is in Baton Rouge, said lawyers for the plaintiff in the case also have tickets to the game.

Earmarks, favors: Young used position for funds and his donors' projects
By GREG GORDON AND ERIKA BOLSTAD, Anchorage Daily News
As chairman of the House transportation committee, Alaska Congressman Don Young flew at least three times to upstate New York aboard a jet owned by Robert Congel, an ambitious shopping mall developer seeking federal highway money. With Young's help, Congel got millions of dollars to boost his dream of building the largest mall in North America. The veteran Republican congressman got something, too: more than $33,000 in political contributions from Congel, his family and his associates. For Young, the Congel story was hardly unusual. Time after time in recent years, Young approved millions of dollars for highway projects for people who in turn fattened his campaign treasury.

Perry stands by criticism of Bush
President 'was never a fiscal conservative,' governor said in Iowa
By CHRISTY HOPPE, Dallas Morning News
Gov. Rick Perry offered no contrition Friday for a slap he took at President Bush last week in Iowa, when he said that even as Texas governor, Mr. Bush "was never a fiscal conservative." But in political circles, the most remarkable aspect of the criticism was that it starkly showed that the once-golden Mr. Bush has become fodder even for the home-state brethren he helped into office. Mr. Perry offered his analysis of Mr. Bush in the home of Republican activist Craig Nelson in Ely, Iowa, on Dec. 6, while campaigning on behalf of GOP presidential contender Rudy Giuliani.

House can't remove speaker, Texas AG says
Craddick's foes strongly disagree; Abbott mum on 'absolute power'
By KAREN BROOKS, Dallas Morning News
The Texas Constitution protects House Speaker Tom Craddick from moves by foes to "vacate the chair" and kick him out of his leadership position before his term is up, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Friday. They can still move to expel him from his legislative office as Midland's state representative with a two-thirds vote, or the House and Senate could impeach him, according to the opinion issued late Friday. But only the Senate has the power to decide whether impeachment of the speaker would mean his removal – either from his leadership position or from office. The impeachment trial would be by the Senate.

Earle opts not to run again
Travis County DA led investigation against DeLay, fundraisers
By the Associated Press, Dallas Morning News
Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle said Friday he won't seek re-election next year, bringing an end to a three-decade reign in which he battled some of the biggest names in Texas politics. Mr. Earle, 65, who's led a criminal investigation of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and his associates, told his staff of his decision, then announced it to the public. The Democrat has been criticized by Mr. DeLay and other Republicans who say his prosecutions of elected leaders are politically motivated.

Stores may face choice: lottery sales or smokers
AG Abbott wrote last month that a Texas court "would probably conclude that (the lottery) would violate the ADA if it fails to provide Texas residents with meaningful access to state services"
By the Associated Press, Houston Chronicle
The Texas Lottery Commission is considering a ban on selling tickets in stores that allow smoking after a recent attorney general's opinion suggested the practice could leave the state vulnerable to civil rights lawsuits. Anti-smoking and civil rights advocates urged the commission at a meeting Wednesday to re-evaluate how it licenses vendors and to not allow smoking where tickets are sold. They are concerned that secondhand smoke prevents people with disabilities or illnesses related to smoke from buying tickets at some locations. Williams argues the federal Americans with Disabilities Act protects him and others from having to buy tickets at smoky stores.

Return of the Titty Tax
Texas law will charge "sexually oriented businesses" that provide live nude entertainment a fee of $5 per customer
By RICHARD WHITTAKER, Austin Chronicle
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. House Bill 1751, which takes effect Jan. 1, will charge "sexually oriented businesses" (known in legislative circles as "SOBs") that provide live nude entertainment a fee of $5 per customer. The bill, however, defines "nude" as "entirely unclothed; or ... clothed in a manner that leaves uncovered or visible through less than fully opaque clothing any portion of the breasts below the top of the areola of the breasts, if the person is female, or any portion of the genitals or buttocks." Texas already has a statutory definition of SOB, but the bill extends that to any venue that allows the consumption of alcohol and provides live nude performance. According to First Amendment attorney Arthur Selander, "This would include a theatre staging a performance of Hair."

Arizona may give benefits to domestic partners
Napolitano is backing the plan
By Matthew Benson, Arizona Republic
Arizona is poised to join more than a dozen states that offer health and other benefits to domestic partners of state employees, gay or straight. The change would affect the state health plan, to which 65,000 active employees of state government and public universities, as well as 9,000 retirees, belong. In short, it would allow state employees with domestic partners to claim the same benefits as married couples, the biggest of which is coverage under the state health plan. Supporters, who include Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano, say the proposal is a step toward fairness and would help the state and its public universities better compete for employees in a marketplace where domestic-partner benefits are becoming more common. Opponents see an attempt to erode traditional values and stamp a sort of state endorsement on the validity of gay and other unmarried relationships. They vow a fight. Senate Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor is among legislators who believe marriage should remain between a man and a woman. He called the plan for domestic partners a "slippery slope" toward government acceptance of variations on traditional marriage.

Proposed cigarette tax, a double-edged sword?
Kansas' 79 cent tax is far above Missouri's, a 50-cent raise to the cost, and the Sunflower State's cigs becomes much more expansive than all its neighbors
By Christine Metz, ABC News
In Kansas, the cigarette tax is no small change. The little green insignia on the bottom of every pack brings in about a $115 million every year. In a quest to cut down on smoking, the Kansas Health Policy Authority wants state lawmakers to raise the cigarette tax. The group reports that an extra 50 cents a pack could mean an extra $50 million in revenue. "It's a triple win. You are improving health outcomes, you are saving the state dollars, and at the same time you are bringing in additional dollars to improve the health in your state," said Kansas Health Policy Authority Executive Director Marcia Neilson. But some Kansans -- such as convenience store owners -- think smokers and their suppliers are being asked to pay too much. "You only got 20 percent of the people doing it, and you are going after 20 percent to fulfill a bigger problem. Is that fair?" said Tom Palace, who lobbies for convenience stores. For an average pack of cigarettes, Kansans pay 79 cents to the state, another 39 cents to the federal government and 32 cents in sales tax. Big tobacco companies say they tack on 47 cents to cover the cost of state lawsuit settlements. In all, that's 42 percent of the total cost for one pack of smokes.  Kansas' 79 cent tax is far above Missouri's, the second lowest in the country. A 50-cent raise to the cost, and the Sunflower State's cigs becomes much more expansive than all its neighbors.

Rick Noriega formally announces plans to run for U.S. Senate 
By the Associated Press, Dallas Morning News
Democratic State Rep. Rick Noriega is formally kicking off his campaign to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. The five-term state lawmaker plans to file his candidacy papers later Monday, after a breakfast with supporters in Houston. Noriega is a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard who spent 14 months in Afghanistan. He supports ending the war in Iraq and setting firm timetables for withdrawing troops.

University of Texas Medical Branch may stop offering cancer care to illegal immigrants
By the Dallas Morning News
The University of Texas Medical Branch may stop offering cancer care to poor illegal immigrants, a policy that would save money but run counter to the medical school's mission of treating the poor. The school has a $1.4 billion annual budget and set aside about $12 million this year to treat indigent cancer patients, said Karen Sexton, vice president and chief executive officer of hospitals and clinics at the medical branch.

Legislative interest in immigration explodes
Mary Jo Pitzl, Arizona Republic
Immigration legislation is nothing new in Arizona where the state's proximity to the border has made it a bubbling issue for years. But in the last two years, it has exploded into a national phenomenon. The staff at the National Conference of State Legislatures, which held its fall meeting in Arizona last week, documented the number of immigration-related bills introduced in statehouses in 2007. They tallied 1,562, up more than 250 percent from the 2006 legislative session. "Immigration is now a 50-state issue," said Sheri Steisel, who works on immigration issues for the legislative group.

Washington special session meets goals of Gregoire, most attendees
1 percent cap on new taxes easily passes
By Brad Shannon and Adam Wilson, Olympian
Gov. Chris Gregoire signed two property-tax-relief bills into law Thursday evening, ending a dizzying three-week debate over restoring property-tax limits that the courts had thrown out.  The votes in the state House and Senate were overwhelming — and bipartisan — to restore the 1 percent cap on yearly increases in local governments' property-tax collections. The cap, which requires voter approval for higher increases, had been on the books since 2002, when legally flawed Initiative 747 took effect. Democrats had little Republican support in favoring a second measure that lets lower-income families defer half their property taxes until selling their homes. The deferral program would target an estimated 5,500 families with incomes of $57,000 or less, letting them delay payment on half of taxes each year, but with interest charges paid when they sell their homes. It could cost the state up to $13.8 million in the next two-year budget cycle to help replace counties' lost revenues.