By Shields H.J.R. No. 28
74R2630 CCK-D
A JOINT RESOLUTION
1-1 applying to the Congress of the United States to call a convention
1-2 for the specific and exclusive purpose of proposing an amendment to
1-3 the Constitution of the United States to prohibit the United States
1-4 Supreme Court, and all other federal courts, from ordering or
1-5 instructing a state, or a political subdivision thereof, or an
1-6 official of such state or political subdivision, to levy or
1-7 increase taxes for any reason.
1-8 WHEREAS, In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of
1-9 Missouri, et al. v. Jenkins, et al. (495 U.S. 33), chose to
1-10 disregard Article I, Section 8, of the United States Constitution,
1-11 which reserves to the legislative branch of government the power to
1-12 tax the citizenry; and
1-13 WHEREAS, In drafting that constitutional section and
1-14 allocating the power of taxation, the founding fathers drew upon
1-15 the Petition of Right, an English law initiated by Sir Edward Coke,
1-16 then approved by the British House of Commons and accepted by King
1-17 Charles I on June 7, 1628, which states in pertinent part that
1-18 ". . . no man hereafter (may) be compelled to make or yield
1-19 any . . . tax . . . without common consent by Act of
1-20 Parliament . . ."; and
1-21 WHEREAS, The framers of the constitution reiterated that
1-22 time-tested principle of limited taxation, specifically vesting
1-23 with the legislative branch the ". . . Power To lay and collect
1-24 Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises . . ."; and
2-1 WHEREAS, Their intent is unambiguous, made clear by the
2-2 analysis of James Madison, who observed in The Federalist No. 48
2-3 that ". . . the legislative department alone has access to the
2-4 pockets of the people . . ."; and
2-5 WHEREAS, The same view is expressed by Alexander Hamilton,
2-6 who asked rhetorically in The Federalist No. 33, "What is the power
2-7 of laying and collecting taxes but a legislative power . . . ?,"
2-8 and follows consistently in The Federalist No. 78, in which he
2-9 argued that the judiciary should be the least dangerous branch of
2-10 government inasmuch as judges would have ". . . no influence over
2-11 either the sword or the purse . . ."; and
2-12 WHEREAS, Yet today, Hamilton's argument no longer rings true;
2-13 through legal orders and the exercise of judicial threat and
2-14 intimidation, federal courts have usurped the power of the
2-15 legislative branch and applied it to non-federal levels of
2-16 government, mandating state and local requirements that have the
2-17 direct or indirect effect of imposing judicial taxes upon the
2-18 states and their political subdivisions; and
2-19 WHEREAS, In so vesting itself by fiat with control of the
2-20 public purse strings, the federal judiciary has contravened and
2-21 overridden the constitutional separation of powers between the
2-22 different branches and levels of government, threatening creation
2-23 of a fiscal oligarchy unbeholden to influence by the electorate;
2-24 and
2-25 WHEREAS, The states and congress have too long ignored this
2-26 self-proclamation and seizure of taxation powers, and it behooves
2-27 all Americans to preserve their rights by the adoption of an
3-1 amendment to the United States Constitution, re-establishing the
3-2 fundamental link between taxation and representation; now,
3-3 therefore, be it
3-4 RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas,
3-5 Regular Session, 1995, hereby make application to the United States
3-6 Congress to propose and submit to the states an amendment to the
3-7 United States Constitution to prohibit federal courts from ordering
3-8 or instructing any state or political subdivision to levy or
3-9 increase taxes, or alternatively, to call a convention under
3-10 Article V of the United States Constitution for the sole, specific,
3-11 and exclusive purpose of proposing such an amendment; and, be it
3-12 further
3-13 RESOLVED, That the congress--or delegates to the convention,
3-14 if called--be respectfully requested to entertain the following
3-15 text for an amendment:
3-16 "ARTICLE _____
3-17 "Neither the Supreme Court nor any inferior court of
3-18 the United States shall have the power to instruct or
3-19 order a state or political subdivision thereof, or an
3-20 official of such state or political subdivision, to
3-21 levy or increase taxes"; and, be it further
3-22 RESOLVED, That, except as otherwise provided in this
3-23 resolution, this application by the Texas Legislature constitute a
3-24 continuing application in accordance with Article V of the United
3-25 States Constitution until at least two-thirds of the legislatures
3-26 of the several states have made application for a convention to
3-27 propose an amendment to prohibit judicially-imposed taxes; and, be
4-1 it further
4-2 RESOLVED, That this application for a constitutional
4-3 convention on the subject of prohibiting judicially-imposed taxes
4-4 be automatically rescinded if:
4-5 (1) the United States Congress adopts, before 90 days
4-6 after the legislatures of two-thirds of the states have made
4-7 application for a convention, an amendment to the United States
4-8 Constitution containing provisions similar in subject matter to
4-9 this request;
4-10 (2) the United States Supreme Court holds that the
4-11 United States Congress cannot call a constitutional convention
4-12 limited solely and exclusively to that subject matter; or
4-13 (3) a convention called pursuant to this resolution
4-14 otherwise transcends that limited subject matter; and, be it
4-15 further
4-16 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
4-17 copies of this resolution to the vice-president of the United
4-18 States, to the speaker of the United States House of
4-19 Representatives, and to all members of the Texas delegation to the
4-20 congress, with the request that this resolution be entered
4-21 officially in the Congressional Record as an application to the
4-22 Congress of the United States of America for a convention to
4-23 propose a federal constitutional amendment to prohibit
4-24 judicially-imposed taxes; and, be it further
4-25 RESOLVED, That official copies of this resolution be prepared
4-26 for the presiding officers of the legislatures of the other states
4-27 for their consideration.