Gale Encyclopedia of American Law Volume 3 P3 fully illuminates today's leading cases, major statutes, legal terms and concepts, notable persons involved with the law, important documents and more. Legal issues are fully discussed in easy-to-understand language, including such high-profile topics as the Americans with Disabilities Act, capital punishment, domestic violence, gay and lesbian rights, physician-assisted suicide and thousands more. | 8 COMMERCE CLAUSE broadcasting involving intrastate activity may be subject to local taxation. A state may impose a nondiscriminatory tax for the use of its highways by motor vehicles in interstate commerce if the charge bears a fair relation to the cost of the construction maintenance and regulation of its highways. The commerce clause does not prohibit a state from imposing a tax on a natural resource that is produced within its borders and that is sold primarily to residents of other states. In Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Montana 453 . 609 101 S. Ct. 2946 69 L. Ed. 2d 884 1981 the . Supreme Court upheld a 30 percent severance tax levied by Montana on the production of coal the bulk of which was exported for sale to other states. The amount of the tax was challenged as an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce. The Court reasoned that the commerce clause does not give the residents of one state the right to obtain resources from another state at what they consider a reasonable price for that right would enable one state to control the development and depletion of natural resources in another state. If that right were recognized state and federal courts would be forced to formulate and to apply a test for determining what is a reasonable rate of taxation on legitimate subjects of taxation tasks that rightfully belong to the legislature. In 2005 the Supreme Court reviewed the imposition of a motor vehicle fee by the State of Michigan. Under the Michigan law motor carriers were required to pay a flat fee of 100 for a permit to transport property within the state. This fee applied both to motor carriers that limit their operations in the state and to those that engaged in both interstate and intrastate operations. The fee did not depend upon the number of miles traveled within the state the number of trips taken within the state or the portion of the time that a carrier spent traveling between states or within states other than Michigan. The MCA requires
