Bill Text: VA HJR90 | 2016 | Regular Session | Engrossed


Bill Title: United States Constitution; amendment concerning federal budget, sunset provision.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 8-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2016-03-04 - Continued to 2017 in Rules by voice vote [HJR90 Detail]

Download: Virginia-2016-HJR90-Engrossed.html
16100175D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 90
House Amendments in [ ] -- February 16, 2016
Applying to the Congress of the United States to call an amendment convention pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution for the purpose of proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution that pertains to the subject of balancing the federal budget.
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Patron Prior to Engrossment--Delegate LeMunyon
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Referred to Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, this nation has become deeply in debt as its expenditures have exceeded available revenues so that the total federal public debt now exceeds $ [ 17 19 ] trillion and continues to increase, and is of such great proportion that responsibility for its payment, with interest, will be passed to future, unborn generations of Americans to assume without their consent; and

WHEREAS, attempts to curtail federal spending, confine expenditures to available revenues, and reduce the annual deficit have not been successful; and

WHEREAS, in recent years Congress has mandated the implementation of government programs by the states without providing funding for all such programs and could continue to encroach on state budgets as a means of balancing the federal budget; and

WHEREAS, the Constitution of Virginia provides for a balanced budget, and this provision has reinforced the inherent fiscal common sense of spending only funds available and has contributed to the Commonwealth's outstanding reputation for sound fiscal management and policy; and

WHEREAS, efforts in Congress to amend the United States Constitution to add a balanced budget requirement have not been successful; and

WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution grants to the states the right to initiate a process of amending the Constitution through application by the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states to the Congress, calling for an amendment convention; and

WHEREAS, the Congress is required by Article V to call such a convention upon receipt of such applications from two-thirds of the states; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Commonwealth of Virginia hereby apply to the Congress of the United States to call an amendment convention pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution for the purpose of proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution that pertains to the subject of balancing the federal budget; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That this application is to be considered as covering the balanced budget amendment provisions of the presently outstanding Article V balanced budget applications from other states, including previously adopted applications from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah, and shall be aggregated with those other applications for the purpose of attaining the two-thirds of states necessary to require the calling of a convention; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the other states be encouraged to make similar applications for an amendment convention pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That this application shall constitute a continuing application for such amendment convention pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution until the legislatures of two-thirds of the states shall have made such applications and such convention shall have been called by the Congress of the United States; and, be it

RESOLVED FINALLY, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the President and the Clerk of the United States Senate, the members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation, and the legislatures of each of the several states, attesting the adoption of this resolution by the Virginia General Assembly. [ That the provisions of this resolution shall expire on July 1, 2026. ]

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