In a recent press conference regarding last night’s cancelled vote on the Permanent Tax Relief for Families & Small Businesses Act (Plan B), Speaker John Boehner was asked about bringing the Senate-passed Middle Class Tax Cuts Act up for a vote on the House Floor. This bill has been the subject of efforts by House Democrats to force a vote, gathering signatures for a discharge petition.
Speaker Boehner responded to the question by saying that the bill has a “blue-slip problem.”
So what is a blue-slip?
Article 1 , Section 7 of the Constitution (sometimes referred to as the “Origination Clause”) states, “All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.” That little sentence is the basis for the formation of the House Committee on Ways and Means , the oldest Congressional committee.
According to Wikipedia , the Origination Clause “originates” with the English parliamentary system, to ensure that the “power of the purse” remained with the House of Commons, that body closest to the people. The specific clause was part of the Great “ Connecticut Compromise ” of the 1787 Constitutional Convention between big and small states.
If a law passes with a “revenue raising measure,” that did not “originate in the House,” it can be “Blue-Slipped” by any House Member. The name “blue-slip” comes from the blue piece of paper that is attached to the offending Senate bill and volleyed back across the Capitol.
See: The Origination Clause of the U.S. Constitution: Interpretation and Enforcement, from the Congressional Research Service.
Review a list of proposals on the table to address the Fiscal Cliff.
