Kansans need to pay attention to what is happening in Topeka these days and they need to keep it in mind longer than it takes to watch a sitcom, if we want to improve government in our home state. They need to remember it when elections roll around again, frankly.
If we don’t, we can just follow the current direction of our society and let those who want to rule us to call the shots.
If we do that, then we certainly DO deserve the government we will get.
Regardless of how you judge the now-defunct effort to provide stricter rules on Kansas strip joints, the action taken in the Kansas Senate just shows that Kansans will not be in charge of their own state, unless they stand up and take action.
According to the Associated Press coverage of the Senate vote this week, this was a defeat of local control.
“The Senate voted 22-17 against a request from Sen. Steve Abrams, an Arkansas City Republican, to pull the bill out of committee, where it has languished. The House approved the same legislation twice, and social and religious conservatives in both chambers have grown frustrated that it hasn’t moved in the Senate.
“The proposed ‘Community Defense Act’ would limit the hours and location of sexually oriented businesses, ban total nudity and impose a ‘no touch’ rule for employees and customers. Strip clubs and adult cabarets still would be allowed to serve alcohol.
“Supporters contend the bill would prevent blight and crime and help small communities that want to keep out sexually oriented businesses but can’t afford to defend against legal challenges. The Jefferson County Commission faces a federal lawsuit over its denial of permit to a company that wanted to open a private adult club outside Meriden, a town of about 800 residents, about 10 miles northeast of Topeka.”
If you want your town to be able to choose whether or not these clubs locate there, the Senate won’t give you that power.
Period.
Kansans may disagree about whether these clubs and other sex-oriented businesses are appropriate or not, but they should NOT argue about whether we have the ability and should have the right to decide for ourselves, in our own communities.
— Chuck Smith