AUSTIN – As state leaders aim to toughen penalties for Texas' sex offenders, victims' rights groups and some lawmakers say they've got a different approach: charging a flat fee at strip clubs to raise money for sexual assault prevention, counseling and treatment.

Two bills – one being crafted by Rep. Ellen Cohen, D-Houston, the other by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas – would force patrons at topless bars and strip clubs to pay a $5 cover charge, raising about $40 million a year. Mr. West's legislation would go a step farther, requiring all sexually oriented businesses to pay an annual $5,000 registration fee.

The proposals are in stark contrast to the series of "Jessica's Laws" under consideration in the Capitol. Such measures would punish child sex offenders with 25-year minimum sentences and repeat offenders with the death penalty. Victims' rights advocates and prosecutors have spoken out against parts of the laws, saying they'll have the unintended consequence of further endangering child victims and making convictions harder to reach.

Opponents in the nightclub and adult bookstore industry say that it's unfair to charge their patrons for a problem that isn't theirs – and that lawmakers are clearly insinuating that there's a link between adult entertainment and sexual assault.

"To say there's a link between sexual assault and gentlemen's clubs is ludicrous," said Angelina Spencer, the executive director for the Association of Club Executives. "These taxes are a ruse to burden the club owner because somebody finds the business morally reprehensible. There is no evidence that links an increase in sexual assaults among women to adult entertainment clubs."

Ms. Cohen, who has served as the president and chief executive of the Houston Area Women's Center for close to two decades, said she's not suggesting that people who go to sexually oriented businesses walk out and commit sexually oriented crimes.

"But I do know that money is being made as a result of women being objectified," she said.

Victims' rights groups will be at the Capitol on Wednesday to push for more cautious consideration of Jessica's Laws and to lobby for the adult entertainment fee – which is similar to one Gov. Rick Perry endorsed in 2004 to raise funds for schools. Lawmakers rejected that fee, which had estimated to bring in between $35 million and $45 million a year based on club attendance.

But legislators endorsing the adult entertainment fee now say they've got a far better shot. Connecting a cover charge at topless clubs to the treatment of sexual assault victims is a much easier sell than connecting it to education, which struck some lawmakers as unseemly.

And while $12 million a year – the portion of the revenue lawmakers hope to use for sexual assault services – wouldn't go far in solving the state's school funding crunch, they say, it could make all the difference in the world to victims of sex crimes.

"When you think about raising funds from sexually oriented businesses for education, it's a knee-jerk reaction, a 'Whoa,' " said Ms. Cohen. "When you talk about providing services for sexual assault programs, it seems like an apples to apples thing."

Ms. Cohen's bill, which has been endorsed by the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault and the Texas Council on Family Violence, would require club operators to collect the $5 cover charge at the door of all Texas strip clubs, returning it to the state like they do with sales tax revenue. The money raised annually beyond the $12 million for sexual assault services could be spent however the Legislature decides.

Mr. West's bill – prompted by a new adult mega-store going up near his office in the Red Bird area – would up the ante, setting a $5,000 annual registration fee for all types of sexually oriented businesses and forcing them to notify elected officials at least 60 days before their arrival. He said he's also considering a provision to add a tax on items sold or rented in adult book and video stores.

"The fact is, we need to find additional sources of revenue, and this is one of several places we can look," Mr. West said. "These people must have some disposable income, so they shouldn't mind."