Florida Senate - 2011                               CS for SCR 4
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Budget; and Senator Haridopolos
       
       
       
       
       576-05027-11                                             20114c1
    1                    Senate Concurrent Resolution                   
    2         A concurrent resolution urging Congress to call a
    3         convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to
    4         the Constitution of the United States to achieve and
    5         maintain a balanced federal budget.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, fiscal discipline and economic integrity have been
    8  core principles of American governance, and
    9         WHEREAS, the American people have historically demanded the
   10  same prudent, responsible, and intellectually honest financial
   11  behavior from their elected representatives as ultimately
   12  compels individual behavior, and
   13         WHEREAS, it is the firm conviction of the Legislature of
   14  the State of Florida that it is wrong to fund the prosperity of
   15  the present generation by robbing future Americans of their own,
   16  and
   17         WHEREAS, mortgaging the birthright of our children and
   18  grandchildren is a dangerous departure from traditional American
   19  values which threatens to permanently undermine the strength of
   20  our nation, and
   21         WHEREAS, in the 8 months between May 1, 2010, and December
   22  31, 2010, the national debt grew by more than $1 trillion, and
   23  as of April 1, 2011, the total public debt outstanding for the
   24  United States was $14,251,174,516,308, and
   25         WHEREAS, Congress has voted to raise the debt limit 10
   26  times since 2001, and the United States Secretary of the
   27  Treasury has called on the Congress to immediately consider
   28  voting to raise it again, and
   29         WHEREAS, our debt is owed increasingly to the governments
   30  of foreign nations, not to the citizens of the United States;
   31  therefore, our wealth is transferred to others and will not be
   32  available to supply the means for America’s future growth and
   33  prosperity, and
   34         WHEREAS, this generation will bequeath to its children one
   35  of the world’s most indebted industrial democracies, and
   36         WHEREAS, high federal deficits cause increasingly high
   37  payments for debt interest in the future, make future borrowing
   38  more costly, reduce investment activity, and thus reduce the
   39  size of the future economy, and
   40         WHEREAS, the people of Florida recognized the wisdom of
   41  fiscal discipline and enshrined in its State Constitution the
   42  requirement for a balanced budget to place a prudent limit on
   43  the tendencies of government, and
   44         WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature has made fiscally
   45  responsible decisions, maintaining a balanced budget and saving
   46  the citizens of this state from crippling deficits, massive debt
   47  burdens, and bankruptcy, and
   48         WHEREAS, we the Legislature of the State of Florida call
   49  for the Constitution of the United States to be amended to
   50  require the Federal Government to operate with fiscal
   51  responsibility, common sense, and within the revenues granted to
   52  it by the people, and
   53         WHEREAS, the Federal Government has for too long relied on
   54  revenue increases and borrowing against our future, rather than
   55  on prudent spending decisions within the limits of current
   56  revenues, and
   57         WHEREAS, lasting resolution of this nation’s budget deficit
   58  will be achieved only by addressing the spending habits of our
   59  Federal Government, not by increasing the tax burden under which
   60  our citizens already labor, and
   61         WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United States
   62  makes provision for amending the Constitution on the application
   63  of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, calling
   64  a convention for proposing amendments that shall be valid to all
   65  intents and purposes if ratified by the legislatures of three
   66  fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three
   67  fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification
   68  may be proposed by Congress, NOW, THEREFORE,
   69  
   70  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida, the House
   71  of Representatives Concurring:
   72  
   73         That the Legislature of the State of Florida, with all due
   74  respect and great reluctance, does hereby make application to
   75  the Congress of the United States pursuant to Article V of the
   76  Constitution of the United States to call a convention for the
   77  sole purpose of proposing an amendment to the Constitution of
   78  the United States to achieve and maintain a balanced budget by,
   79  among other things:
   80         (1) Requiring that total outlays not exceed total receipts
   81  for any fiscal year;
   82         (2) Requiring the setting of a fiscal year total outlay
   83  limit;
   84         (3) Prohibiting increases in taxes or other revenue
   85  sources;
   86         (4) Providing that, for reasons other than war or military
   87  conflict, the limits of this amendment may be waived by law for
   88  any fiscal year if approved by at least two-thirds of both
   89  houses of Congress;
   90         (5) Allowing for provisions of the amendment to take effect
   91  within specified time periods;
   92         (6) Providing for the waiver of the provisions of the
   93  amendment for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is
   94  in effect or the United States is engaged in military conflict
   95  that causes an imminent and serious military threat to national
   96  security; and
   97         (7) Allowing for congressional enforcement.
   98         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this concurrent resolution
   99  supersedes all previous memorials and concurrent resolutions
  100  applying to the Congress of the United States to call a
  101  convention for the purpose of proposing a balanced budget
  102  amendment to the Constitution of the United States, including
  103  Senate Memorial 234 and House Memorial 2801, both passed in
  104  1976, and were superseded, revoked, and withdrawn in 1988 by
  105  Senate Memorial 302, and Senate Concurrent Resolution 10, passed
  106  in 2010, and that such previous memorials and resolutions are
  107  hereby revoked and withdrawn, nullified, and superseded to the
  108  same effect as if they had never been passed.
  109         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this concurrent resolution is
  110  revoked and withdrawn, nullified, and superseded to the same
  111  effect as if it had never been passed, and retroactive to the
  112  date of passage, if it is used for the purpose of calling a
  113  convention or used in support of conducting a convention to
  114  amend the Constitution of the United States for any purpose
  115  other than requiring a balanced federal budget.
  116         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this concurrent
  117  resolution be dispatched to the President of the United States
  118  Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of
  119  Representatives, to each member of the Florida delegation to the
  120  United States Congress, and to the presiding officers of each
  121  house of the several state legislatures.