Origination Clause

The Origination Clause, sometimes called the Revenue Clause, is part of the United States Constitution. This clause says that all bills for raising revenue must start in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as in the case of other bills.

The Origination Clause stemmed from a British parliamentary practice that all money bills must have their first reading (and any other initial readings) in the House of Commons before being sent to the House of Lords. This practice was intended to ensure that the power of the purse is possessed by the legislative body most responsive to the people, although the British practice was modified in America by allowing the Senate to amend these bills.

This clause was part of the Great Compromise between small and large states. The large states were unhappy with the lopsided power of small states in the Senate, and so the Origination Clause theoretically offsets the unrepresentative nature of the Senate, compensating the large states for allowing equal voting rights to Senators from small states.

The Origination Clause, also known as the Revenue Clause, reads as follows:

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

The federal Constitution was written in 1787 and adopted in 1789. Prior to 1787, several state constitutions followed British practice by providing that "money bills" must start in the more representative branch of the state legislature.

Vesting the power of origination in the U.S. House of Representatives was part of the Great Compromise, in which the framers also agreed to allow equality in the Senate regardless of a state's population, while creating representation based on a State's population in the House. The framers adopted the Great Compromise on July 16, 1787. At that point, the draft clause stated: "all bills for raising or appropriating money....shall originate in the [representative house], and shall not be altered or amended by the [other house]...."

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