COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A bill that puts new strip club regulations in place in Ohio, including a ban on patrons and dancers touching each other, will become law without Gov. Ted Strickland's signature, a spokesman said Tuesday.
The Senate on Tuesday voted 25-8 to adopt the House version on the measure that includes a rule prohibiting patrons from touching dancers rather than keeping them 6 feet away at all times, as originally proposed. There was no debate.
In light of economic, educational and other problems Ohioans face, the debate over the bill was "silly," Strickland said before the Senate voted. "I think this issue has consumed too much time and attention."
Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey said Strickland, who had concerns that the initial strip club proposal was unconstitutional, wants to focus on the issues that matter the most to most Ohioans.
"If he were persuaded it was unconstitutional, he would have vetoed the bill," Dailey said.
Despite the governor's concerns, large majorities in both the House and the Senate supported the idea, so he won't stand in the way, Dailey said.
The bill will take effect in late August.
A group of club operators on Tuesday promised a court battle on constitutional grounds, saying that stripping is a protected form of free expression.
"This bill is so extreme that it could make handshakes and pats on the back illegal," Angelina Spencer, executive director of the National Association of Club Executives, said in a statement. "We're going to court and we're going to win."
The Legislature took up the bill after a group called Citizens for Community Values collected enough signatures to require lawmakers to consider it. If the Legislature had failed to act or passed a bill that did not satisfy the Cincinnati-based group, their members could have collected more signatures to put it before voters in November.
Phil Burress, the group's president, said overall he was pleased with the final version, even though the 6-foot rule was out.
"I believe it's probably 80 percent of what we wanted," Burress said. "It's certainly going to do a lot to curb crime."
He disagreed with Strickland's contention that the issue was a distraction to lawmakers.
"I'm glad this is behind us also," Burress said. "But I think the state's business is being taken care of just fine."
Strickland has used his veto power just twice in the five months he's been in office. He vetoed a bill restricting lawsuits against lead-paint manufacturers and a provision in the transportation budget that would have allowed charter schools to create their own transportation systems.
