Idaho
“[T]he Legislature makes application and requests that the Congress of the United States call a Constitutional Convention for the specific and exclusive purpose of proposing an amendment to the Federal Constitution requiring in the absence of a national emergency that the total of all federal appropriations made by the Congress for any fiscal year may not exceed the total of all estimated federal revenues for that fiscal year[.]” – Idaho HCR 7 (1979)
Representative Application
For each of the 40 States, one representative application has been highlighted. An explanation is provided as to why this application should be aggregated toward the total calling for a convention for proposing amendments. Additional applications from the State, if any, are also included.
Idaho HCR 7 (1979) is among the seventeen States that articulate the problem of fiscal responsibility with a phrase nearly identical to “the total of all federal appropriations made by the Congress for any fiscal year may not exceed the total of all estimated federal revenues for that fiscal year.” There are some slight variations, the biggest being Wyoming referring to “receipts” rather than “revenue.”
HCR 7 (1979)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
FOR THE PURPOSE OF REQUESTING APPROPRIATE ACTION BY THE CONGRESS, EITHER ACTING BY CONSENT OF TWO-THIRDS OF BOTH HOUSES OR, UPON THE APPLICATION OF THE LEGISLATURES OF TWO-THIRDS. OF THE SEVERAL STATES, CALLING A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION TO PROPOSE AN AMENDMENT TO THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION TO REQUIRE, WITH CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS, THAT THE TOTAL OF ALL FEDERAL APPROPRIATIONS MAY NOT EXCEED THE TOTAL OF ALL ESTIMATED FEDERAL REVENUES IN ANY FISCAL YEAR.
Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
WHEREAS, with each passing year this Nation becomes more deeply in debt as its expenditures grossly and repeatedly exceed available revenues, so that the public debt now exceeds hundreds of billions of dollars; and
WHEREAS, the annual federal budget continually demonstrates an unwillingness or inability of both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government to curtail spending to conform to available revenues; and
WHEREAS, unified budgets do not reflect actual spending because of the exclusion of special outlays which are not included in the budget nor subject to the legal public debt limit; and
WHEREAS, knowledgeable planning, fiscal prudence, and plain good sense require that the budget reflect all federal spending and be in balance; and
WHEREAS, believing that fiscal irresponsibility at the federal level, with the inflation which results from this policy, is the greatest threat which faces our Nation, we firmly believe that constitutional restraint is necessary to bring the fiscal discipline needed to restore financial responsibility; and
WHEREAS, under Article V of the Constitution of the United States, amendments to the Federal Constitution may be proposed by the Congress whenever two-thirds of both Houses deem it necessary, or on the application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several states the Congress shall call a Constitutional Convention for the purpose of proposing amendments. We believe such action vital.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the First Regular Session of the Forty-fifth Idaho Legislature, the House of Representatives and the Senate concurring, that the Legislature proposes to the Congress of the United States that procedures be instituted in the Congress to add a new Article to the Constitution of the United States, and that the legislature requests the Congress to prepare and submit to the several states an amendment to the constitution of the United States, requiring in the absence of a national emergency that the total of all federal appropriations made by the Congress for any fiscal year may not exceed the total of all estimated federal revenues for that fiscal year; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that, alternatively, the Legislature makes application and requests that the Congress of the United States call a Constitutional Convention for the specific and exclusive purpose of proposing an amendment to the Federal Constitution requiring in the absence of a national emergency that the total of all federal appropriations made by the Congress for any fiscal year may not exceed the total of all estimated federal revenues for that fiscal year; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this application by this Legislature constitutes a continuing application in accordance with Article V of the Constitution of the United States until at least two-thirds of the Legislatures of the several states have made similar applications pursuant to Article V, but if Congress proposes an amendment to the Constitution identical in subject matter to that contained in this resolution then this petition for a Constitutional Convention shall no longer be of any force or effect; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this application and request be deemed null and void, rescinded, and of no effect in the event that such convention not be limited to such specific and exclusive purpose; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Legislature also proposes that the Legislatures of each of the several states comprising the United States apply to the Congress requesting the enactment of an appropriate amendment to the Federal Constitution; or require the Congress to call a Constitutional Convention for proposing such an amendment to the Federal Constitution; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the House of Representatives be and he is hereby directed to forward copies of this resolution to the Secretary of State and presiding officers of both Houses of the Legislatures of each of the other States in the Union, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, and the members of the Congress of the United States representing the State of Idaho.