Florida Senate - 2012 (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL) SPB 7204
FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Budget
576-02529-12 20127204__
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, during 2011, the national debt grew by almost $1.2
22 trillion, and as of January 3, 2012, the total public debt
23 outstanding for the United States was $15,226,217,488,652.33,
24 and
25 WHEREAS, Congress has voted to raise the debt limit 11
26 times since 2001, and
27 WHEREAS, our debt is owed increasingly to the governments
28 of foreign nations, not to the citizens of the United States;
29 therefore, our wealth is transferred to others and will not be
30 available to supply the means for America’s future growth and
31 prosperity, and
32 WHEREAS, this generation will bequeath to its children one
33 of the world’s most indebted industrial democracies, and
34 WHEREAS, high federal deficits cause increasingly high
35 payments for debt interest in the future, make future borrowing
36 more costly, reduce investment activity, and thus reduce the
37 size of the future economy, and
38 WHEREAS, the people of Florida recognized the wisdom of
39 fiscal discipline and enshrined in its State Constitution the
40 requirement for a balanced budget to place a prudent limit on
41 the tendencies of government, and
42 WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature has made fiscally
43 responsible decisions, maintaining a balanced budget and saving
44 the citizens of this state from crippling deficits, massive debt
45 burdens, and bankruptcy, and
46 WHEREAS, we the Legislature of the State of Florida call
47 for the Constitution of the United States to be amended to
48 require the Federal Government to operate with fiscal
49 responsibility, common sense, and within the revenues granted to
50 it by the people, and
51 WHEREAS, the Federal Government has for too long relied on
52 revenue increases and borrowing against our future, rather than
53 on prudent spending decisions within the limits of current
54 revenues, and
55 WHEREAS, lasting resolution of this nation’s budget deficit
56 will be achieved only by addressing the spending habits of our
57 Federal Government, not by increasing the tax burden under which
58 our citizens already labor, and
59 WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United States
60 makes provision for amending the Constitution on the application
61 of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, calling
62 a convention for proposing amendments that shall be valid to all
63 intents and purposes if ratified by the legislatures of three
64 fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three
65 fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification
66 may be proposed by Congress, NOW, THEREFORE,
67
68 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida, the House
69 of Representatives Concurring:
70
71 That the Legislature of the State of Florida, with all due
72 respect and great reluctance, does hereby make application to
73 the Congress of the United States pursuant to Article V of the
74 Constitution of the United States to call a convention for the
75 sole purpose of proposing an amendment to the Constitution of
76 the United States to achieve and maintain a balanced budget by,
77 among other things:
78 (1) Requiring that total outlays not exceed total receipts
79 for any fiscal year;
80 (2) Requiring the setting of a fiscal year total outlay
81 limit;
82 (3) Prohibiting increases in taxes or other revenue
83 sources;
84 (4) Providing that, for reasons other than war or military
85 conflict, the limits of this amendment may be waived by law for
86 any fiscal year if approved by at least two-thirds of both
87 houses of Congress;
88 (5) Allowing for provisions of the amendment to take effect
89 within specified time periods;
90 (6) Providing for the waiver of the provisions of the
91 amendment for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is
92 in effect or the United States is engaged in military conflict
93 that causes an imminent and serious military threat to national
94 security; and
95 (7) Allowing for congressional enforcement.
96 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this concurrent resolution
97 supersedes all previous memorials and concurrent resolutions
98 applying to the Congress of the United States to call a
99 convention for the purpose of proposing a balanced budget
100 amendment to the Constitution of the United States, including
101 Senate Memorial 234 and House Memorial 2801, both passed in
102 1976, and were superseded, revoked, and withdrawn in 1988 by
103 Senate Memorial 302, and Senate Concurrent Resolution 10, passed
104 in 2010, and that such previous memorials and resolutions are
105 hereby revoked and withdrawn, nullified, and superseded to the
106 same effect as if they had never been passed.
107 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this concurrent resolution is
108 revoked and withdrawn, nullified, and superseded to the same
109 effect as if it had never been passed, and retroactive to the
110 date of passage, if it is used for the purpose of calling a
111 convention or used in support of conducting a convention to
112 amend the Constitution of the United States for any purpose
113 other than requiring a balanced federal budget.
114 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this concurrent
115 resolution be dispatched to the President of the United States
116 Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of
117 Representatives, to each member of the Florida delegation to the
118 United States Congress, and to the presiding officers of each
119 house of the several state legislatures.