HBA-EVB H.R. 573 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.R. 573 By: Shields State Affairs 5/24/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE H.R. 573 alleges that in 1990, the United States Supreme Court, in the case of Missouri, et al. v. Jenkins, et al. (495 U.S. 33), chose to disregard Article I, Section 8, of the United States Constitution, which reserves to the legislative branch of government the power to tax the citizenry, and makes other allegations, as follows: Alleges that in drafting that constitutional section and allocating the power of taxation, the founding fathers drew upon the Petition of Right, an English law initiated by Sir Edward Coke, then approved by the British House of Commons and accepted by King Charles I on June 7, 1628, which states in pertinent part that ". . . no man hereafter [may] be compelled to make or yield any . . . tax . . . without common consent by Act of Parliament . . ." Alleges that in 1787, the framers of the United States Constitution reiterated that time-tested principle of limited taxation, specifically vesting with the legislative branch the ". . . Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises . . ." Alleges that their intent is unambiguous, made clear by the analysis of James Madison, who observed in The Federalist No. 48 that ". . . the legislative department alone has access to the pockets of the people . . ." Alleges that the same view is expressed by Alexander Hamilton, who asked rhetorically in The Federalist No. 33, "[w]hat is the power of laying and collecting taxes but a legislative power . . . ?," and follows consistently in The Federalist No. 78, in which he argued that the judiciary should be the least dangerous branch of government inasmuch as judges would have ". . . no influence over either the sword or the purse . . ." Alleges that currently, Hamilton's argument no longer rings true; through legal orders and the exercise of judicial threat and intimidation, federal courts have usurped the power of the legislative branch and applied it to non-federal levels of government, mandating state and local requirements that have the direct or indirect effect of imposing judicial taxes upon the states and their political subdivisions. Alleges that in so vesting itself by fiat with control of the public purse strings, the federal judiciary has contravened and overridden the constitutional separation of powers between the different branches and levels of government, threatening creation of a fiscal oligarchy unbeholden to influence by the electorate. Alleges that the states and Congress have too long ignored this self-proclamation and seizure of taxation powers, and that it behooves all Americans to preserve their rights by the adoption of an amendment to the United States Constitution, re-establishing the fundamental link between taxation and representation. Alleges that seeking to reverse the aforementioned Jenkins decision of 1990, lawmakers in 14 other states, beginning in 1993, have already adopted and transmitted to Congress memorials requesting that Congress propose an amendment to the United States Constitution, and that certain enumerated memorials have been entered in the Congressional Record. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS Sets forth that the House of Representatives of the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas, Regular Session, 1999, hereby memorializes the United States Congress to propose and submit to the states for ratification an amendment to the United States Constitution to prohibit federal courts from ordering or instructing any state or political subdivision thereof, or an official of any state or political subdivision, to levy or increase taxes. Sets forth text that the Congress is respectfully requested to entertain for an amendment. Sets forth that the chief clerk of the Texas House of Representatives forward official copies of this resolution to the vice-president of the United States, to the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and to all members of the Texas delegation to the Congress, with the request that this resolution be entered officially in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America to propose a federal constitutional amendment to prohibit judicially-imposed taxes.