HCR 8001

1	House Concurrent Resolution
2	A concurrent resolution urging Congress to call a
3	convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to the
4	Constitution of the United States to provide for a
5	balanced federal budget and limit the ability of Congress
6	to dictate to states requirements for the expenditure of
7	federal funds.
8
9	WHEREAS, fiscal discipline and economic integrity have been
10	core principles of American governance, and
11	WHEREAS, the American people have historically demanded the
12	same prudent, responsible, and intellectually honest financial
13	behavior from their elected representatives as ultimately
14	compels individual behavior, and
15	WHEREAS, it is the firm conviction of the Legislature of
16	the State of Florida that it is wrong to fund the prosperity of
17	the present generation by robbing future Americans of their own,
18	and
19	WHEREAS, mortgaging the birthright of our children and
20	grandchildren is a dangerous departure from traditional American
21	values which threatens to permanently undermine the strength of
22	our nation, and
23	WHEREAS, the national debt has nearly doubled over the past
24	8 years and Florida's share of that debt is $727 billion, more
25	than all Floridians make in wages and salaries in 2 years, and
26	WHEREAS, for the nation to pay off the entire federal debt
27	by 2015, Congress would have to triple the federal income taxes
28	of every American and devote the increase exclusively to debt
29	payments, and
30	WHEREAS, our debt is increasingly owed to the governments
31	of foreign nations, not to the citizens of the United States;
32	therefore, our wealth is transferred to others and will not be
33	available to supply the means for America's future growth and
34	prosperity, and
35	WHEREAS, this generation will bequeath to its children one
36	of the world's most indebted industrial democracies, and
37	WHEREAS, high federal deficits cause increasingly high
38	payments for debt interest in the future, make future borrowing
39	more costly, reduce investment activity, and thus reduce the
40	size of the future economy, and
41	WHEREAS, the people of Florida recognized the wisdom of
42	fiscal discipline and enshrined in its State Constitution the
43	requirement for a balanced budget to place a prudent limit on
44	the tendencies of government, and
45	WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature has made fiscally
46	responsible decisions, maintaining a balanced budget and saving
47	the citizens of this state from crippling deficits, massive debt
48	burdens, and bankruptcy, and
49	WHEREAS, we, the Legislature of the State of Florida, call
50	for the Constitution of the United States to be amended to
51	require the Federal Government to operate with fiscal
52	responsibility, common sense, and the revenues granted to it by
53	the people, and
54	WHEREAS, the Federal Government has for too long relied on
55	revenue increases and borrowing against our future rather than
56	on prudent spending decisions within the limits of current
57	revenues, and
58	WHEREAS, lasting resolution of this nation's budget deficit
59	can be achieved only by addressing the spending habits of our
60	Federal Government, not by increasing the tax burden under which
61	our citizens already labor, and
62	WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United States
63	makes provision for amending the Constitution on the application
64	of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, calling
65	a convention for proposing amendments that shall be valid to all
66	intents and purposes if ratified by the legislatures of three-
67	fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-
68	fourths thereof, as one or the other mode of ratification may be
69	proposed by Congress, NOW, THEREFORE,
70
71	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
72	Florida, the Senate Concurring:
73
74	That the Legislature of the State of Florida, with all due
75	respect and great reluctance, does hereby make application to
76	the Congress of the United States pursuant to Article V of the
77	Constitution of the United States to call an Article V
78	amendments convention for the sole purpose of proposing
79	amendments to the Constitution of the United States:
80	(1)  To achieve and maintain a balanced budget by:
81	(a)  Requiring that such balanced budget account for all
82	obligations of the Federal Government;
83	(b)  Allowing flexibility in federal balanced budget
84	requirements by providing exceptions related to exigencies such
85	as national emergencies or threats to the nation's security;
86	(c)  Imposing spending limits on the Federal Government;
87	(d)  Setting extraordinary vote requirements for new or
88	increased federal taxes and other revenues; and
89	(e)  Prohibiting federal mandates on states to impose taxes
90	or fees.
91	(2)  To control the ability of the Congress and the various
92	federal executive agencies to require states to expend funds by:
93	(a)  Limiting the ability of Congress and the various
94	federal executive agencies to pass legislation requiring states
95	to spend money or to take actions requiring the expenditure of
96	money unless federal funds are provided in ongoing amounts
97	sufficient to offset the full costs of such requirements; and
98	(b)  Limiting the ability of Congress to dictate to states
99	requirements for the expenditure of federal funds other than
100	such requirements as may be necessary to measure outcomes to be
101	achieved through the expenditure of the federal funds, leaving
102	to the several states the ability to decide how to best
103	accomplish those outcomes.
104	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this concurrent resolution
105	supersedes all previous memorials applying to the Congress of
106	the United States to call a convention for the purpose of
107	proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
108	including Senate Memorial 234 and House Memorial 2801, both
109	passed in 1976, and superseded, revoked, and withdrawn in 1988
110	by Senate Memorial 302, and that such previous memorials are
111	hereby revoked and withdrawn, nullified, and superseded to the
112	same effect as if they had never been passed.
113	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this concurrent resolution is
114	revoked and withdrawn, nullified, and superseded to the same
115	effect as if it had never been passed, and retroactive to the
116	date of passage, if it is used for the purpose of calling a
117	convention or used in support of conducting a convention to
118	amend the Constitution of the United States for any purpose
119	other than requiring a balanced federal budget or limiting the
120	ability of the Federal Government to require states to spend
121	money.
122	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this concurrent
123	resolution be dispatched to the President of the United States
124	Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of
125	Representatives, to each member of the Florida delegation to the
126	United States Congress, and to the presiding officers of each
127	house of the several state legislatures.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.