Texas tackles a ticket tax
TEXT OF STORYBOB MOON: Texas may soon be the latest state to require steroid testing of high school athletes. Lawmakers are arguing not over whether it’s a good idea to subject teenagers to random drug tests, the scrap is about who should pay for it. Jill Barshay reports.
JILL BARSHAY: The Texas State House wants to authorize a new fee on high school football and basketball games.
Now, this is Texas, where football is religion. Opponents call it a ticket tax.
D.W. Rutledge is head of the Texas High School Coaches Association. He prefers a Senate version, which would pay for testing with taxpayer dollars. He says a ticket tax may not raise enough cash, and parents could end up footing the bill.
D.W. RUTLEDGE: We don’t want the kids that are from financially-challenged families not to have the opportunity to play athletics because they can’t afford it.
Texas law maker Dan Flynn wrote the ticket fee bill.
DAN FLYNN: What is the cost of an athletic event, a sporting event that’s a volunteer program? Should they not be self-funding?
Flynn says 25 cents from each ticket would be enough to raise the $4.5 million needed for steroid testing. He’s negotiating with his Senate counterpart this week.
In Los Angeles, I’m Jill Barshay for Marketplace.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
