Sec. 501. Policy statement on a balanced budget amendment
248 words·~1 min read·
/bill/115/hconres/71/rh/section-501·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The House finds the following: In fiscal year 2017, the Federal Government will collect approximately $3.3 trillion in taxes, but spend more than $4.0 trillion to maintain its operations, borrowing 15 cents of every Federal dollar spent. At the end of fiscal year 2016, the national debt of the United States was more than $19.5 trillion. A majority of States have petitioned the Federal Government to hold a constitutional convention to adopt a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
As of the spring of 2016, 46 States have requirements to annually balance their respective budgets. Numerous balanced budget amendment proposals have been introduced on a bipartisan basis in the House. Currently in the 115th Congress, 8 joint resolutions proposing a balanced budget amendment have been introduced. In the 111th Congress, the House considered H. J. Res. 2, sponsored by Representative Robert W. Goodlatte of Virginia. Although it received 262 aye votes, it did not receive the two-thirds required for passage.
In 1995, a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution passed the House with bipartisan support, but failed to pass by one vote in the United States Senate. Five States, Georgia, Alaska, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Arizona, have agreed to the Compact for a Balanced Budget, which seeks to amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget through an Article V convention by April 12, 2021. It is the policy of this concurrent resolution that the House should propose a balanced budget constitutional amendment for ratification by the States.