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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 teelalatura, 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 unoonstltutional beoeuee passed in tiolatlon of the provlalon or 

the Texas Constitution reading aa folldws: 

RAll bills for raising revenue ahall orlginate 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 9 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 Leglalatu~, so as to exempt lnatruamnts taken on behalf 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 ror ita sole and only purpose an amndn:ent to an Aot raising revenue, undertaking to exempt oertaln 

instruments from the tax levied by the original Aot. The amendment 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 orlgins1 Aot, by establlahlng the exemptions provided In the el-.endment. 
Eonorahle George i!. Sheppard, Page 2 

Xe find no oese Ir. point in thlu jurladlotIon; 

however, almoet the ldentloal situation wes oonsldered In 

.tlJc Ptate of New Jer-ey, In the cam or In Ro Petons Estate 

&yea, et al va. Bugbee, Zomptroller, 168 At.1. 422. From 

this opinion, at page 424, we cuotet 

Teeponderrt elflo argues tbc:t the ezecptlnu 

stetuts 1s unoonntltutlonal and thereioxe lnvalid, . . . ae hhvlng orl&nnted in the Tenate, 

and therefore being In violetion of Article 4, 

!?eotlon 6, paraGra$h 1, of tha %ate Conztltution, 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 orlglnated as a Psnato bill. It 13 E au""~ltrll,-a~h~~dment--to the Transfer lnhcrltance 

1s s ::tatute ror raising revenue. Obvlou~ly, however, It Is not in itself s bill ror ralslnE revenue; 

its purpose and erreot la ra.ther corewhat to deoreeee revenue thtn to inorsese It. ipperently in 

Fnglsnd such an rxendment nuat originate in the 

Houre of Corzona, Cuahlng, Law & Pr. of Leg. Assemblles (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 amendment 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 

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