Bill Text: TX HCR59 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging Congress to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to provide for a balanced federal budget, except during a war.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-05-01 - Considered in Calendars [HCR59 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HCR59-Introduced.html
| 84R7380 RMA-D | ||
| By: Metcalf | H.C.R. No. 59 | |
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| WHEREAS, Year after year, the federal government has failed | ||
| to make fiscally responsible choices, and Washington must now take | ||
| aggressive steps to address our serious national deficit; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The United States Congress routinely passes budgets | ||
| leading the government to spend more than it receives in revenue; in | ||
| order to finance the resulting budget deficit, the U.S. Treasury | ||
| must sell bonds, and the government must pay interest on those | ||
| bonds; this cycle of deficit spending leaves less money for new | ||
| programs or tax cuts, and it could prove detrimental to the future | ||
| stability of our nation; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The State of Texas is one of 46 states that require a | ||
| balanced budget either constitutionally or by statute, and it is | ||
| reasonable to expect the federal government to operate within | ||
| similarly responsible parameters; through the years, many states | ||
| have requested that Congress propose a constitutional amendment | ||
| requiring a balanced budget, and although such a proposal won broad | ||
| congressional support in 1995, it failed by one vote in the senate; | ||
| and | ||
| WHEREAS, It is a fundamental truth that no entity can remain | ||
| solvent when expenditures continually outpace revenue, and every | ||
| home and every business must spend within its means or face | ||
| calamity; the fiscal irresponsibility of the federal government not | ||
| only jeopardizes the country's economic stability, but also | ||
| threatens national security; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to | ||
| propose and submit to the states for ratification an amendment to | ||
| the United States Constitution providing that--except during a war | ||
| declared by the Congress of the United States pursuant to Clause 11, | ||
| Section 8, Article I, United States Constitution--the total of all | ||
| federal appropriations for a fiscal year may not exceed the total of | ||
| all estimated federal revenue for that fiscal year; and, be it | ||
| further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
| the president of the Senate and speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
| members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
| this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a | ||
| memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. | ||
