Strip club restriction bill heads OK'd by Senate, on to Strickland
By MARC KOVACDix Capital BureauCOLUMBUS -- The Ohio Senate has concurred on an amended version of a bill prohibiting hours of operation and physical contact at strip clubs.The legislation, initiated by the Cincinnati-based Citizens for Community Values and 220,000 petition signatures of like-minded Ohioans, heads to Gov. Ted Strickland's desk for final approval or rejection. "I would hope, with us concurring with the bill, that it is over," Senate President Bill Harris, a Republican from Ashland, told reporters after Tuesday's session. "... We can see what the governor does."Sen. Ron Amstutz, the lone member of the chamber to add his name as a co-sponsor to Substitute Senate Bill 16, urged members to OK the House version of the bill. The final vote was 25-8; opposing were Minority Leader Teresa Fedor (a Democrat from Toledo), Lance Mason (a Democrat from Cleveland), Dale Miller (a Democrat from the Cleveland area), Larry Mumper (a Republican from Marion), Tom Roberts (a Democrat from Trotwood), Tom Sawyer (a Democrat from the Akron area) and Shirley Smith (a Democrat from Cleveland). Strickland told reporters late last week that he would review the bill before issuing a decision. But he said he thought the legislation was "fairly meaningless to the lives of most Ohioans. We've got other issues that are pressing issues that we ought to be (considering)." The bill would prohibit sexually oriented businesses not holding valid liquor licenses from operating between midnight and 6 a.m. Those with liquor licenses could stay open provided they cease from offering sexually oriented entertainment involving nude performers. It also would institute a statewide ban on physical contact between club employees who are nude or semi-nude or with patrons. Violators would face first-degree misdemeanor charges for touching specified anatomical areas and fourth-degree misdemeanors for toucher other parts.The substitute bill did not include a 6-foot buffer zone between strippers and customers or others on the premises. But it did include provisions that the state cover any liabilities incurred by townships dealing with lawsuits over stricter local ordinances.Business affected would include adult bookstores, adult video stores, adult cabarets, adult motion picture theater, sexual device shop or a sexual encounter center, according to an analysis of the bill compiled by the state's Legislative Service Commission.Marc Kovac is the Dix Newspapers Capital Bureau chief. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com.
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