FIRST REGULAR SESSION
House Concurrent Resolution No. 4
97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE SCHARNHORST.
AN ACT
Relating to submission of a proposed federal balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
WHEREAS, under Article V of the Constitution of the United States:
"The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which in either case shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of this constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by Congress"; and
WHEREAS, the following Amendment to the United States Constitution is proposed:
"Section 1. The annual expenditures of the Congress shall not exceed the annual revenue for any year, save for the use of monetary reserves, except as provided for in Sections 2 and 3.
Section 2. The Congress shall not borrow from any source, including its own funds and trusts, for any expense, except for the extraordinary costs of a declared war or armed conflict, or for a fiscal emergency declared by Congress and signed by the President of the United States.
Section 3. The Congress may issue special bonds for specific capital projects, which shall, in turn, be extinguished within twenty years of issuance. The cumulative total of all bonds issued in this manner shall never exceed twenty percent of the total private sector earned income.
Section 4. This amendment shall take effect beginning the third fiscal year after its ratification.
Section 5. This resolution shall not be construed as an application for a constitutional convention to the United States Constitution pursuant to Article V thereof.":
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-seventh General Assembly, First Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby submit this resolution for a federal balanced budget Amendment to the United States Constitution and, pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, respectfully urge the United States Congress to submit the proposed Amendment to the United States Constitution to the States for ratification and inclusion in the United States Constitution; and
BE IT RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution for the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, and for each member of the Missouri Congressional delegation.
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