TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF CONCERNED TAXPAYERS, INC.
v.
UNITED STATES

U.S. | 1986-05-27
No. 85-1262
with whom Justice Brennan joins,
476 U.S. 1151 Supreme Court of the United States (1986) Caution
Cited by 8 cases
Dissent
Justice White,

Justice White,

with whom Justice Brennan joins,

dissenting.

Petitioner Texas Association of Concerned Taxpayers challenges the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, 96 Stat. 324 (TEFRA), on the ground that it was enacted in violation of the Origination Clause of the United States Constitution, which provides that “[a]ll Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.” Art. I, §7, cl. 1. Specifically, petitioner asserts that when the bill originated in the House of Representatives, it was not a “bill for raising revenue” within the meaning of the Origination Clause because the net effect of the bill would have been to reduce the amount of revenue collected.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that this issue was a nonjusticiable political question. 772 F. 2d 163, 165-167 (1985). This holding conflicts with the Ninth Circuit’s explicit holding with respect to an identical challenge to TEFRA that the Origination Clause issue was in fact justiciable. See Armstrong v. United States, 759 F. 2d 1378, 1381-1382 (1985). See also Wardell v. United States, 757 F. 2d 203 (CA8 1985) (per curiam) (adjudicating same claim on the merits); Heitman v. United States, 753 F. 2d 33 (CA6 1984) (per curiam) (same). The Fifth Circuit’s holding is also in tension with this Court’s decision in Flint v. Stone Tracy Co., 220 U. S. 107, 142-143 (1911), in which we also adjudicated an Origination Clause challenge to a statute. To resolve this conflict among the Circuits, I would grant certiorari.

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Cited By

  • United States v. German Munoz-Flores, 863 F.2d 654 (9th Cir. 1988)
    …tates, 772 F. 2d 163, 166-67 (5th Cir.1985) (refusing to analyze a statute under the origination clause on the grounds that Congress had itself previously determined that the statute in question did not violate the origination clause), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1151, 106 S.Ct. 2265, 90 L.Ed.2d 710 (1986). Holding the origination clause justiciable also comports with a number of Supreme Court decisions in which the Court adjudicated origination clause challenges to statutes. See, e.g., Flint v. Stone Tracy Co.…
  • United States v. Tholl, 895 F.2d 1178 (7th Cir. 1990)
    …e determination of whether a particular legislative measure is a "bill[ ] for raising revenue” is a nonjusticiable political question. See Texas Ass'n of Concerned Taxpayers, Inc. v. United States, 772 F. 2d 163, 165-67 (5th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1151, 106 S.Ct. 2265, 90 L.Ed.2d 710 (1986). In the past, the Supreme Court explicitly has reserved the issue. Rainey v. United States, 232 U.S. 310, 317, 34 S.Ct. 429, 431, 58 L.Ed. 617 (1914); Flint v. Stone Tracy Co., 220 U.S. 107, 143, 31 S.Ct. 342,…
  • United States v. Herrada, 887 F.2d 524 (5th Cir. 1989)
    …uncements by various departments on one question. Accord, INS v. Chada, 462 U.S. 919, 941, 103 S.Ct. 2764, 2779, 77 L.Ed.2d 317 (1983). In Texas Association of Concerned Taxpayers, Inc. v. United States, 772 F. 2d 163 (5th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1151, 106 S.Ct. 2265, 90 L.Ed.2d 710 (1986), we addressed a challenge to the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, Pub.L. No. 97-248, 96 Stat. 324 (TEFRA), based on the Origination Clause. The issue was whether the Origination Clause's phrase…

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