Florida Senate - 2012         (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL) SPB 7204
       
       
       
       FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Budget
       
       
       
       
       576-02529-12                                          20127204__
    1                    Senate Concurrent Resolution                   
    2         A concurrent resolution urging Congress to call a
    3         convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to
    4         the Constitution of the United States to achieve and
    5         maintain a balanced federal budget.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, fiscal discipline and economic integrity have been
    8  core principles of American governance, and
    9         WHEREAS, the American people have historically demanded the
   10  same prudent, responsible, and intellectually honest financial
   11  behavior from their elected representatives as ultimately
   12  compels individual behavior, and
   13         WHEREAS, it is the firm conviction of the Legislature of
   14  the State of Florida that it is wrong to fund the prosperity of
   15  the present generation by robbing future Americans of their own,
   16  and
   17         WHEREAS, mortgaging the birthright of our children and
   18  grandchildren is a dangerous departure from traditional American
   19  values which threatens to permanently undermine the strength of
   20  our nation, and
   21         WHEREAS, during 2011, the national debt grew by almost $1.2
   22  trillion, and as of January 3, 2012, the total public debt
   23  outstanding for the United States was $15,226,217,488,652.33,
   24  and
   25         WHEREAS, Congress has voted to raise the debt limit 11
   26  times since 2001, and
   27         WHEREAS, our debt is owed increasingly to the governments
   28  of foreign nations, not to the citizens of the United States;
   29  therefore, our wealth is transferred to others and will not be
   30  available to supply the means for America’s future growth and
   31  prosperity, and
   32         WHEREAS, this generation will bequeath to its children one
   33  of the world’s most indebted industrial democracies, and
   34         WHEREAS, high federal deficits cause increasingly high
   35  payments for debt interest in the future, make future borrowing
   36  more costly, reduce investment activity, and thus reduce the
   37  size of the future economy, and
   38         WHEREAS, the people of Florida recognized the wisdom of
   39  fiscal discipline and enshrined in its State Constitution the
   40  requirement for a balanced budget to place a prudent limit on
   41  the tendencies of government, and
   42         WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature has made fiscally
   43  responsible decisions, maintaining a balanced budget and saving
   44  the citizens of this state from crippling deficits, massive debt
   45  burdens, and bankruptcy, and
   46         WHEREAS, we the Legislature of the State of Florida call
   47  for the Constitution of the United States to be amended to
   48  require the Federal Government to operate with fiscal
   49  responsibility, common sense, and within the revenues granted to
   50  it by the people, and
   51         WHEREAS, the Federal Government has for too long relied on
   52  revenue increases and borrowing against our future, rather than
   53  on prudent spending decisions within the limits of current
   54  revenues, and
   55         WHEREAS, lasting resolution of this nation’s budget deficit
   56  will be achieved only by addressing the spending habits of our
   57  Federal Government, not by increasing the tax burden under which
   58  our citizens already labor, and
   59         WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United States
   60  makes provision for amending the Constitution on the application
   61  of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, calling
   62  a convention for proposing amendments that shall be valid to all
   63  intents and purposes if ratified by the legislatures of three
   64  fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three
   65  fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification
   66  may be proposed by Congress, NOW, THEREFORE,
   67  
   68  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida, the House
   69  of Representatives Concurring:
   70  
   71         That the Legislature of the State of Florida, with all due
   72  respect and great reluctance, does hereby make application to
   73  the Congress of the United States pursuant to Article V of the
   74  Constitution of the United States to call a convention for the
   75  sole purpose of proposing an amendment to the Constitution of
   76  the United States to achieve and maintain a balanced budget by,
   77  among other things:
   78         (1) Requiring that total outlays not exceed total receipts
   79  for any fiscal year;
   80         (2) Requiring the setting of a fiscal year total outlay
   81  limit;
   82         (3) Prohibiting increases in taxes or other revenue
   83  sources;
   84         (4) Providing that, for reasons other than war or military
   85  conflict, the limits of this amendment may be waived by law for
   86  any fiscal year if approved by at least two-thirds of both
   87  houses of Congress;
   88         (5) Allowing for provisions of the amendment to take effect
   89  within specified time periods;
   90         (6) Providing for the waiver of the provisions of the
   91  amendment for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is
   92  in effect or the United States is engaged in military conflict
   93  that causes an imminent and serious military threat to national
   94  security; and
   95         (7) Allowing for congressional enforcement.
   96         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this concurrent resolution
   97  supersedes all previous memorials and concurrent resolutions
   98  applying to the Congress of the United States to call a
   99  convention for the purpose of proposing a balanced budget
  100  amendment to the Constitution of the United States, including
  101  Senate Memorial 234 and House Memorial 2801, both passed in
  102  1976, and were superseded, revoked, and withdrawn in 1988 by
  103  Senate Memorial 302, and Senate Concurrent Resolution 10, passed
  104  in 2010, and that such previous memorials and resolutions are
  105  hereby revoked and withdrawn, nullified, and superseded to the
  106  same effect as if they had never been passed.
  107         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this concurrent resolution is
  108  revoked and withdrawn, nullified, and superseded to the same
  109  effect as if it had never been passed, and retroactive to the
  110  date of passage, if it is used for the purpose of calling a
  111  convention or used in support of conducting a convention to
  112  amend the Constitution of the United States for any purpose
  113  other than requiring a balanced federal budget.
  114         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this concurrent
  115  resolution be dispatched to the President of the United States
  116  Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of
  117  Representatives, to each member of the Florida delegation to the
  118  United States Congress, and to the presiding officers of each
  119  house of the several state legislatures.