Florida Senate - 2024                   (PROPOSED BILL) SPB 7064
       
       
        
       FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Fiscal Policy
       
       
       
       
       
       594-03203-24                                          20247064pb
    1                    Senate Concurrent Resolution                   
    2         A concurrent resolution applying to the Congress of
    3         the United States to call a constitutional convention
    4         for the sole purpose of proposing an amendment to the
    5         Constitution of the United States which would
    6         authorize the President of the United States to
    7         eliminate one or more items of appropriation while
    8         approving other portions of a bill.
    9  
   10         WHEREAS, despite various efforts to control the explosive
   11  growth of federal spending, the President of the United States
   12  has had insufficient authority with respect to the budgetary
   13  process, and
   14         WHEREAS, the federal budget has not been balanced for
   15  decades and, as of 2024, the national debt has increased to more
   16  than $34 trillion, and
   17         WHEREAS, presidents of both political parties have cited
   18  the need for greater presidential involvement in administering
   19  the budgetary affairs of the nation, including having the
   20  ability to veto line items from the federal budget, and
   21         WHEREAS, in 44 states, the governor has the constitutional
   22  power to veto items of appropriation while approving other
   23  portions of a bill, and
   24         WHEREAS, this power has been described by political
   25  scholars as a highly desirable one, and one which has had a
   26  positive effect on the operation of government, and
   27         WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States passed the Line
   28  Item Veto Act of 1996 to enable the president to control “pork
   29  barrel spending” in the federal budget, and
   30         WHEREAS, while the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 was in
   31  effect, the president used this authority 82 times to veto line
   32  items from the federal budget, and
   33         WHEREAS, in 1998, the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 was found
   34  to be unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court, thus
   35  requiring enactment of an amendment to the Constitution of the
   36  United States in order for line item veto authorization to be
   37  implemented, and
   38         WHEREAS, under Article V of the Constitution of the United
   39  States, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of
   40  the several states, Congress shall call a constitutional
   41  convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to the
   42  Constitution, NOW, THEREFORE,
   43  
   44  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   45  
   46         (1) That the Legislature of the State of Florida applies to
   47  Congress, under Article V of the Constitution of the United
   48  States, to call a constitutional convention limited to proposing
   49  an amendment to the Constitution which would authorize the
   50  President of the United States to eliminate one or more items of
   51  appropriation while approving other portions of a bill.
   52         (2) That this application constitutes a continuing
   53  application in accordance with Article V of the Constitution of
   54  the United States until the legislatures of at least two-thirds
   55  of the several states have made applications on the same
   56  subject.
   57         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of the State of
   58  Florida also proposes that the legislatures of the several
   59  states comprising the United States apply to Congress to call a
   60  constitutional convention for proposing such an amendment to the
   61  Constitution of the United States.
   62         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this concurrent resolution is
   63  revoked and withdrawn, nullified, and superseded to the same
   64  effect as if it had never been passed, and retroactive to the
   65  date of passage, if it is used for the purpose of calling a
   66  constitutional convention or used in support of conducting a
   67  constitutional convention to amend the Constitution of the
   68  United States with any agenda other than to propose an amendment
   69  to the Constitution which would authorize the President of the
   70  United States to eliminate one or more items of appropriation
   71  while approving other portions of a bill.
   72         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this application be
   73  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   74  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   75  United States House of Representatives, to each member of the
   76  Florida delegation to the United States Congress, and to the
   77  presiding officer of each house of the legislature of each
   78  state.