Case Information

*1 “-,-. a-.* OFFlCEOF'IXEAlTORNEY GENERAL OFTEXM

AUSTIN

13owrable Georf:e H. Sheppard

Comptroller or Publlo Aooounte

;ustIn, Texae

Leer Sir: Opinion No. O-4061

Re: Conetltutlonallty or ?enata Bill NO. 97, Aot8 47th teela- latura, Regular PeasIon.

Your letter or ceptember 29, asks the opinion or

thla department upon the quentlon of whather Penate Bill No. 97, Aote Regular %a111on 47th Lagielstura ia unoonstl- tutional beoeuee passed in tiolatlon of the provlalon or the Texas Constitution reading aa folldws:

RAll bills for raising revenue ahall orl- ginate in the h‘ouse of Representatives, but the Fenate may emend or rejeot them aa other bllle." (Artlole III, Seotlon 33)

The caption of Senate Bill No. 97 reads BEI followe: "An Aot amending Ceotlon or Artiole 4 of Chapter 455 of the kots of the 3rd oalled seaaion of the 44th Legislature, aa amezvlmcl by Tenets

all1 No. 24, Chapter 5, Aota or the 46th Legla- latu~, so as to exempt lnatruamnts taken on be- half ot National Banking ~8oolatlona organized under the laws ot the United State8 and aa to

notso, or other obligationa taken by or on behalf or State Benklng CO~pOratI0nll; ana deolarlng en emargonoy. "

Penete Bill No. 97 la not 8 blll ior raising revenue. It 1s a bill whloh has ita sole and only purpose an amnd- n:ent to an Aot raising revenue, undertaking to exempt oertaln instruments from the tax levied by the original Aot. The amend- ment raises no revenue, nor does It have mlalng revenue ror its purpose; on the oontrary, the l fteot of the amendment la neoeasnrlly to deoreaae the revenue to be raised under the orl- gins1 Aot, by establlahlng the exemptions provided In the el-.end- ment.

Eonorahle George i!. Sheppard, Page 2

Xe find no oese Ir. point in thlu jurladlotIon; however, almoet the situation wes oonsldered In ldentloal .tlJc Ptate of New Jer-ey, In the cam or In Ro Petons Estate At.1. 422. From &yea, et al va. Bugbee, Zomptroller, this opinion, at page 424, we cuotet elflo argues tbc:t the ezecptlnu Teeponderrt

stetuts 1s unoonntltutlonal and thereioxe ln- valid, . . . ae hhvlng orl&nnted in the Tenate, and therefore being In violetion of Article 4, !?eotlon 6, paraGra$h 1, of tha %ate Conztltu- tion, whioh requires that 'All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the f!ouoe of Assembly. . . .

"As to the seoond of these oontentlons, it is cunoeded t!lot the statute In question orlglnat- ed as a Psnato bill. It 13 E au""~ltrll,-a~h~~d- ment--to the Transfer lnhcrltance

1s s ::tatute ror raising revenue. Obvlou~ly, how- ever, It Is not in itself s bill ralslnE revenue; its purpose and erreot la ra.ther corewhat to de- oreeee revenue thtn to inorsese It. ipperently in Fnglsnd such an rxendment nuat originate in the Houre of Corzona, Cuahlng, Law & Pr. of Leg. Assem- blles (9th i?d.) p. 890; -tory, Corrst. (5th Ed.) vol. 1, p. 643; but no authority has beer. olted or found whloh lay& down a slmller rule in this country. InCeeC, such of those authorities in this country, cited by counsel, as touch upon the point., tend to Indloete a oontrary view. ?ee U.S.

Y. Yorton, 91 'J.?. 566, at page 568, 569, 23 L. Ed.

454; The Nsshvllle, 4 Rlss, 188, at page 193, Fed.

Cas. No. 10,023; U.S. Y: Jnmee, 13 Flatch. 207, Fed, Css. No. 15,464; Horthern Counties Inv. Trust v. pears, 30 Cr. 388, 41 2. 931, 35 L.R.A. 189, and note; %ory, Con:&. (5th Ed.) pp. 642, 643 and note.

And the presumption Is $n favor of oonetltutlonality.

*It lo deemed by thls court thot euoh en amend- ment does not ooze within the letter or the spirit of the conotltutloncl. fnterdlot loncW

You are theretore advlesd that' in the opinion of this department "enate Bill 97 15 not Invalid as rlolatlng

Honorable George ti. Zheppati, Page 3

.

.Artiols III, setson 33 or the Taxes constitution.

Your8 wry truly