Nimba County Representative Musa H. Bility has requested that the House of Representatives formally communicate with the Liberian Senate to halt its ongoing budget hearings. The request, according to the lawmaker, is intended to preserve constitutional order. The Liberian Senate Committee on Ways, Means and Finance has been conducting a public hearing on the revenue component of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Budget. In a communication sent to House Speaker Richard N. Koon on Monday, December 1, 2025, Representative Bility said the Constitution of Liberia grants exclusive origination authority over all fiscal legislation, particularly the National Budget, to the House of Representatives. Article 34(d) (i) of the 1986 Constitution provides:
“All revenue bills, whether subsidies, charges, imports, duties, or taxes, and other financial bills shall originate in the House of Representatives.” He said under the constitutional framework, the Senate may concur in, or decline to concur in, revenue and other financial bills that have already originated from and been acted upon by the House of Representatives.
Bility said the Senate’s role is therefore clearly subsequent, and any question of concurrence or nonoccurrence only arises after the House has received, examined, debated, amended, and adopted the draft National Budget. According to him, the current action by the Senate, conducting budget hearings before the House has acted upon the draft budget, is therefore inconsistent with Article 34(d)(i) and the long-standing constitutional doctrine governing the origination of revenue and appropriation bills, by effectively converting a limited power to “may concur” into a parallel originating authority the Constitution does not grant.
He stated that it is procedurally improper, as no budget can be brought before the Senate for concurrence or nonoccurrence until it has first been originated and passed upon by the House, adding that it’s potentially disruptive, carrying the propensity to cause institutional conflict, legislative disorder, and constitutional uncertainty within the bicameral system.
“Honorable Speaker and distinguished colleagues, the preservation of order, predictability, and constitutional compliance in our legislative process is essential for good governance,” Bility noted. The Nimba County Lawmaker indicated that the national budget is the single most important governance instrument of the state, and any procedural irregularity compromises public trust, constitutional harmony, and legislative credibility.
He requests the Plenary to mandate the Speaker to officially communicate with the Liberian Senate, advising them to immediately halt their ongoing budget hearings until the House of Representatives has completed its constitutionally mandated review and adoption of the budget, at which point the Senate may properly exercise its constitutional prerogative to concur or not. He said the communication is not confrontational but rather, it is necessary to: uphold the Constitution; maintain clarity in our respective legislative, preserve institutional harmony and prevent procedural chaos; and ensure the budget process proceeds in a manner consistent with law and legislative norms. “I trust that Plenary will act with urgency, given the sensitivity and national importance of this matter,” he concluded.
