Source: http://www.chanrobles.com/usa/us_supremecourt/507/529/case.php
Timestamp: 2019-06-20 21:18:57
Document Index: 398026555

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 272', '§ 2022', '§ 602', '§ 3717', '§ 3717', '§ 3717', '§ 3701']

UNITED STATES ET AL. v. TEXAS ET AL. 507 U.S. 529 - US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
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UNITED STATES ET AL. v. TEXAS ET AL. 507 U.S. 529
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(b) The Act is silent as to the States' obligations to pay prejudgment interest. That the Act applies only to debts owed by a "person" establishes only Congress' intent to exempt the States from the obligation to pay interest in accordance with the Act's mandatory provisions, not an intent to relieve them of their common-law obligation. Given the differences between the Act-which requires federal agencies to collect prejudgment interest at a preestablished rate-and the common lawwhich gives federal courts flexibility in determining whether to impose interest and the appropriate rate-it is logical to conclude that the Act was intended to reach only private debtors and to leave the States alone. The Act's purpose-to enhance the Government's debt collection abil-cralaw
Texas incurred the instant debts as a result of participation in the Food Stamp Program, 78 Stat. 703, as amended,cralaw
"The State of - and the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), hereby agree to act in accordance with the provisions of the Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended, implementing regulations and the FNS-approved State Plan of Operation. The Statecralaw
"The State agrees to: 1. Administer the program in accordance with the provisions contained in the Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended, and in the manner prescribed by regulations issued pursuant to the Act; and to implement the FNS-approved State Plan of Operation." 7 CFR § 272.2(b)(1) (1992).cralaw
3 The Tenth Circuit holds that the Debt Collection Act of 1982 did not abrogate the Federal Government's common-law right to collect prejudgment interest against the States. Gallegos v. Lyng, 891 F.2d 788 (1989). The Second, Third, and Eighth Circuits all hold to the contrary. See Perales v. United States, 751 F.2d 95 (CA2 1984) (per curiam); Pennsylvania Dept. of Public Welfare v. United States, 781 F.2d 334 (CA3 1986); Arkansas by Scott v. Block, 825 F.2d 1254 (CA8 1987).cralaw
The Debt Collection Act does not speak directly to the Federal Government's right to collect prejudgment interest on debts owed to it by the States. The Act states that "[t]he head of an executive or legislative agency shall charge a minimum annual rate of interest on an outstanding debt on acralaw
Texas also relies on the recent amendment to 7 U. S. C. § 2022 adding a provision requiring prejudgment interest on specific obligations arising under the Food Stamp Act of 1977. Pub. L. 100-435, § 602, 102 Stat. 1674 (1988). But "subsequent legislative history is a 'hazardous basis for inferring the intent of an earlier' Congress." Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation v. LTV Corp., 496 U. S. 633, 650 (1990) (quoting United States v. Price, 361 U. S. 304, 313 (1960)). Texas' argument also fails because, likecralaw
5 The interest rate required under § 3717 is "the average investment rate for the Treasury tax and loan accounts for the 12-month period ending on September 30 of each year, rounded to the nearest whole percentage point." 31 U. S. C. § 3717(a)(1).cralaw
Part of this argument persuades; Congress in the Act tightened the screws, so to speak, on the prejudgment interest obligations of private debtors to the Government, and not on the States. It may be inferred from this fact that the former were the root of the Government's debt collection problems which inspired the Act. But it does not at all fol-cralaw
6 Both Texas and the Court of Appeals rely upon our decision in Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman, 451 U. S. 1 (1981), for the proposition that the Federal Government may not collect prejudgment interest because neither the Debt Collection Act nor the Food Stamp Act expressly require prejudgment interest. This reliance is misplaced. In Pennhurst, we held that in order to impose conditions on the receipt of federal funds, Congress must speak unambiguously. Id., at 17. This makes sense because the States cannot voluntarily and knowingly agree to a condition that is not clearly expressed. Ibid. Because the duty to pay prejudgment interest on debts owed to the United States existed long before either the Food Stamp Program or the Debt Collection Act wascralaw
3 "Judgments, it is true, are by the law of South Carolina, as well as by Federal legislation, declared to bear interest. Such legislation, however, has no application to the government. And the interest is no part of thecralaw
6 Title 31 U. S. C. § 3717(a) requires the appropriate government official to charge interest "on an outstanding debt on a United States Government claim owed by a person," but 31 U. S. C. § 3701(c) provides that for purposes of this section the term "'person' does not include an agency of the United States Government, of a State government, or of a unit of general local government."cralaw
"Prior to September 27, 1982, neither Senate bill 1249 nor House bill 4613 contained a provision exempting any entity from the Act. Several interest groups, however, presented the view that sections 10 and 11 of the Act, except in cases where fraud was evident, should not be applied to states or local governments because they constituted a different class of debtor than did private individuals and would suffer great harm if the federal government attempted to assess interest or apply administrative offsets against them. These same concerns had been presented in hear-cralaw
"In response to these concerns, on September 27, 1982, I proposed an amendment to S. 1249. This amendment, UP amendment 1299, amended provisions in Sections 10 and 11 of the Act, stating that 'the term "person" does not include any agency of the United States, or any state or local government.' This provision effectively took federal agencies, states and local governments out of the Act, but retained sufficient flexibility to permit Congress to legislatively pick and choose according to circumstances, those situations in which the government might assess interest against those entities exempted by the Act. As enacted, the Debt Collection Act of 1982 appears clear on this point. It was not anticipated that federal agencies would attempt to invoke common law authority, which, if it exists with respect to interest assessment and administrative offset against states and local governments, was abrogated by sections 10(e)(2) and 11(e)(8) of the Act." Letter of Nov. 21, 1983, from Senator Charles H. Percy to the Comptroller General (emphasis added). See Texas v. United States, 951 F.2d 645, 649-650 (CA5 1992); Pennsylvania Dept. of Public Welfare v. United States, 781 F.2d 334, 341, n. 10 (CA3 1986). Of course, the significance of a comment by an individual legislator is discounted when made" 'after passage of the Act,'" see Bread Political Action Committee v. FEC, 455 U. S. 577, 582, n. 3 (1982). This Court's use of the 1987 opinion in the West Virginia case to describe the state of the common law in 1982 should be similarly discounted.cralaw
8 "The cases teach that interest is not recovered according to a rigid theory of compensation for money withheld, but is given in response to considerations offairness. It is denied when its exaction would be inequitable. United States v. Sanborn, 135 U. S. 271, 281; Billings v. United States, 232 U. S. 261." Board of Commr's of Jackson County v. United States, 308 U. S. 343,352 (1939). In 1987 the Court rejected the argument that "whether interest had to be paid depended on a balancing of equities between the parties." West Virginia v. United States, 479 U. S., at 311, n.3.cralaw