A joint resolution proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Latest action · Apr 4, 2019 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Progress
Where this resolution reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedApr 4, 2019
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Constitutional Amendment
This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment prohibiting total outlays for a fiscal year from exceeding total receipts for that fiscal year unless Congress authorizes the excess by a three-fifths roll call vote of each chamber.
The prohibition excludes
- outlays for repayment of debt principal,
- receipts derived from borrowing,
- receipts or outlays of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, and
- outlays relating to a natural disaster if the law providing the funds explicitly exempts the funds from the requirement and is agreed to by a majority of each chamber of Congress.
The amendment requires the President to annually submit to Congress a budget in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts.
The amendment specifies exceptions to the requirements if a declaration of war is in effect, the United States is engaged in military conflict that causes an imminent and serious military threat to national security, economic growth is less than 0%, or the unemployment rate is more than 7%.
The amendment prohibits a court from enforcing the requirements by ordering cuts to Social Security or Medicare payments unless the funds available to the trust fund for a program are not sufficient to cover the outlays that would occur during the year if the fund were fully solvent.
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Apr 4, 2019.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I-WV | Joe Manchin III | Original | Apr 4, 2019 |
| D-AZ | Kyrsten Sinema | Original | Apr 4, 2019 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 4, 2019Introduced in Senate
- Apr 4, 2019Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Related bills 3
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HJRES 11 | Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to provide for balanced budgets for the Government. | Related bill | Jan 3, 2019 |
| HJRES 22 | Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States. | Related bill | Jan 8, 2019 |
| HJRES 55 | Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States. | Related bill | May 3, 2019 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Economics and Public Finance.
- Budget deficits and national debt
- Budget process
- Constitution and constitutional amendments
- Disaster relief and insurance
- Economic performance and conditions
- Economics and Public Finance
- Government trust funds
- Legislative rules and procedure
- Medicare
- Natural disasters
- Social security and elderly assistance
- Unemployment
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Apr 4, 2019Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this resolution on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.