Endeavoring to find new ways to raise revenue to reduce the federal deficit and avoid politically unpopular spending cuts or increases in the income tax, Congress passes a law that taxes the owners of buildings that have used lead paint. A portion of the revenue was earmarked to help pay for the cost of removing lead paint from public school buildings throughout the country. The lead paint tax law was debated at length before ultimately passing in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Opponents of the bill charged that it was punitive in nature as many members of Congress openly admitted that they had voted for the tax because they thought it might encourage building owners to remove the lead paint from their buildings prior to the effective date of the tax so as to avoid having to pay the tax.

If properly challenged, a court is most likely to rule that the tax is: