Bill Text: TX HCR68 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Expressing support for the repeal of the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2025-03-05 - Referred to State Affairs [HCR68 Detail]
Download: Texas-2025-HCR68-Introduced.html
| By: Harrison | H.C.R. No. 68 | |
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| WHEREAS, The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution severely | ||
| warps the founders' vision for our constitutional system; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Passed in 1913, despite warnings of negative impacts | ||
| on honest citizens, this amendment created authorization for the | ||
| federal income tax; although the first such tax was very limited, | ||
| affecting only two percent of the labor force, with a top rate of | ||
| seven percent, it paved the way for vast federal government | ||
| overreach; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The federal government now has almost unlimited | ||
| ability to fund programs that rightfully fall in the purview of the | ||
| states, such as education, welfare, and law enforcement; it uses | ||
| its fiscal power to pressure states into conformance with a | ||
| national standard in matters that should reflect regional | ||
| differences; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The wisest of the nation's founders recoiled at the | ||
| notion of taxing individuals, regarding such "capitations," or | ||
| "head taxes," as acceptable only in the event of war or other | ||
| emergency; therefore, Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution | ||
| states explicitly: "No capitation, or other direct Tax, shall be | ||
| laid unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration"; this | ||
| signified that the federal government could collect revenue from | ||
| the states according to population, but it must leave the methods of | ||
| collection to the states; to promote fiscal responsibility and | ||
| avoid abuse of power, the federal government was required to | ||
| collect revenue in other, less oppressive ways, such as tariffs and | ||
| excise or consumption taxes; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The first federal income tax was imposed during the | ||
| Civil War and soon repealed; decades later, when Congress assessed | ||
| a peacetime income tax, the Supreme Court ruled it | ||
| unconstitutional, citing Article I; this prudent ruling, sadly, was | ||
| nullified by the 16th Amendment; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Through the years, bureaucrats and politicians have | ||
| frequently abused the federal income tax system, using it to | ||
| undermine the constitutional framework for limiting government and | ||
| maintaining a balance of powers; this practice has accelerated in | ||
| recent years, and the income tax has become ever more onerous, | ||
| complex, and intrusive; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby express support for repealing the 16th Amendment to the | ||
| United States Constitution; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
| the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
| members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
| this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record | ||
| as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. | ||
