Money bill

Not to be confused with Banknote.

In the Westminster system (and, colloquially, in the United States), a money bill or supply bill is a bill that solely concerns taxation or government spending (also known as appropriation of money), as opposed to changes in public law.

Conventions

It is often a constitutional convention that the upper house may not block supply. There is often another requirement that non-money bill type clauses may not be attached to a money bill.

Loss of supply in the lower house is conventionally considered to be an expression of the house's loss of confidence in the government resulting in the government's fall.

India

Procedure for a Money Bill:

1. Money Bills can be introduced only in Lok Sabha (the directly elected 'people's house' of the Indian Parliament).
2. Money bills passed by the Lok Sabha are sent to the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of parliament, elected by the state and territorial legislatures or appointed by the president). The Rajya Sabha may not amend money bills but can recommend amendments. A money bill must be returned to the Lok Sabha within 14 days or the bill is deemed to have passed both houses in the form it was originally passed by the Lok Sabha.
3. When a Money Bill is returned to the Lok Sabha with the recommended amendments of the Rajya Sabha it is open to Lok Sabha to accept or reject any or all of the recommendations.
4. A money bill is deemed to have passed both houses with any recommended amendments the Lok Sabha chooses to accept, (and without any that it chooses to decline).
5. The definition of "Money Bill" is given in the Article 110 of the Constitution of India. A financial bill is not a Money Bill unless it fulfills the requirements of the Article 110.
6. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha certifies if a Finance bill is a Money Bill or not.

Republic of Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, the Senate may not delay a money bill more than 21 days. The President of Ireland may not refuse to sign a money bill and may not refer such a bill to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, section 1(1) of the Parliament Act 1911 provides that the House of Lords may not delay a money bill more than a month. It is at the discretion of the Speaker of the House of Commons to certify which bills are money bills, and his decision is final and is not subject to challenge. Section 1(2) of the Act states:

A Money Bill means a Public Bill which in the opinion of the Speaker of the House of Commons contains only provisions dealing with all or any of the following subjects, namely, the imposition, repeal, remission, alteration, or regulation of taxation; the imposition for the payment of debt or other financial purposes of charges on the Consolidated Fund, the National Loans Fund or on money provided by Parliament, or the variation or repeal of any such charges; supply; the appropriation, receipt, custody, issue or audit of accounts of public money; the raising or guarantee of any loan or the repayment thereof; or subordinate matters incidental to those subjects or any of them. In this subsection the expressions "taxation," "public money," and "loan" respectively do not include any taxation, money, or loan raised by local authorities or bodies for local purposes.^[1]

The reference to the National Loans Fund was inserted on 1 April 1968^[2] by section 1(5) of the National Loans Act 1968.

For this purpose, the expression "Public Bill" does not include any Bill for confirming a Provisional Order.

Bradley and Ewing said that the statutory definition of Money Bill is "strictly interpreted".^[3] Most annual Finance Bills have not been certified to be Money Bills.^[4][5][6]

Similar Requirements in Non-Westminster Systems

United States

While the United States of America is not a parliamentary democracy, Article I, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution requires that all bills raising revenue originate in the House of Representatives, consistent with British constitutional practice; by convention, appropriation bills (bills that spend money) also originate in the House. Unlike in most Westminster systems, there are no limits on the Senate's ability to amend revenue bills or any requirement for the Senate to approve such bills within a certain timeframe. Both appropriations and revenue bills are often referred to as money bills to contrast them with authorization bills.

References

1. ^ http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/13/section/1
2. ^ The National Loans Act 1968, section 24(3)
3. ^ A W Bradley and K D Ewing, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Twelfth Edition, Longman, 1997, p. 213
4. ^ A W Bradley and K D Ewing, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Twelfth Edition, Longman, 1997, pp. 213 and 214
5. ^ Erskine May, Parliamentary Practice, 21st Edition, 1989, pp. 751 - 753 (editor C Gorden)
6. ^ Jennings, I. Parliament, Second Edition, 1957

See also

• Appropriation bill
• Power of the purse