February 26, 2013 1:57PM # An Unconstitutional Tax Bill in Virginia? By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) --- SHARE My long-ago colleague Norman Leahy, once a young research assistant at the Cato Institute, has an [op-ed in the *Washington Post*](http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/vas-transportation-bill-is-unconstitutional/2013/02/25/3d73abee-7f88-11e2-a350-49866afab584_story.html) today. I wonder where he got the idea that an act of the legislature is invalid just because it violates the state constitution. > Those praising the [Virginia General Assembly’s transportation compromise](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-politics/va-lawmakers-approve-landmark-transportation-plan/2013/02/23/712969d8-7de4-11e2-82e8-61a46c2cde3d_story.html) may not realize that the bill runs afoul of the plain language in the state’s constitution. > > > Virginia’s constitution is clear that the General Assembly can impose only uniform taxes across the state for similar activities. But the bill that emerged from the House-Senate conference committee last weekend upsets the historic balance between localities and state government; it contains new provisions about taxation, some of which would effectively set up a two-tier system for residents in certain parts of the state. It’s difficult to see how some of these provisions could survive legal challenge.… > > > As a constitutional matter, these local tax provisions could probably be struck down without affecting the rest of the legislation. > > > But few should know better than Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) that state legislators don’t have the power to impose a discriminatory local tax. He was the state’s attorney general when his office defended before the state Supreme Court the General Assembly’s previous attempt at a transportation tax package. The court rejected the argument. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).