Q: Article I, section 7 of the Constitution states, “All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.” Why was the Senate able to write its own bill, rather than considering the House bill as prescribed by the Constitution?
—Daniel Blumenthal, Atlanta
A: Under the Constitution, all tax legislation must originate in the House, and the Senate begins its consideration based on the House's tax proposal, according to the U.S. Treasury Department's website.
The House Ways and Means Committee begins the process for all tax legislation. That committee holds hearings and drafts legislative language, then reports the bill out for the House to vote. When the House has acted, its version is sent to the Senate Finance Committee.
“This committee begins its formal work on the legislation after the House has passed its version of the bill,” according to the Treasury website. “Witnesses appear at the committee hearings in the same order as in the Ways and Means Committee. They direct their testimony to the House version of the bill.”
However, the Senate may propose its own ideas and by the time the tax bill clears the Senate Finance Committee for a full Senate vote, the bill is usually different from the House bill, according to the Treasury Department.
The Senate passed its amended version of the tax legislation in early December. The different House and Senate versions will have to be reconciled in a conference committee made up of members of both houses. A vote on that final version must pass in both chambers before the tax bill can go to the president.
Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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