Kansas
“[T]he Legislature of the State of Kansas hereby makes application to the Congress of the United States to call a convention for the sole and exclusive purpose of proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States which would require that, in the absence of a national emergency, the total of all appropriations made by the Congress for a fiscal year shall not exceed the total of al estimated federal revenues for such fiscal year. If the Congress shall propose such an amendment to the Constitution, this application shall no longer be of any force or effect[.]” – Kansas SCR 1661 (1978)
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.
Kansas SCR 1661 (1978) 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.”
SCR 1661 (1978)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION requesting and applying to the Congress of the United States to propose, or to call a convention for the purpose of proposing, an amendment to the Constitution of the United States which would require that, in the absence of a statutorily defined national emergency, total federal appropriations shall not exceed total estimated federal revenues in a fiscal year.
WHEREAS, Annually the United States moves more deeply in debt as its expenditures exceed its available revenues and the public debt now exceeds hundreds of billions of dollars; and
WHEREAS, Annually the federal budget demonstrates the unwillingness or inability of the federal government to spend in conformity with available revenues; and
WHEREAS, Proper planning, fiscal prudence and plain good sense require that the federal budget be in balance absent national emergency; and
WHEREAS, A continuously unbalanced federal budget except in a national emergency causes continuous and damaging inflation and consequently a severe threat to the political and economic stability of the United States; and
WHEREAS, Under Article V of the Constitution of the United States, amendments to the 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 states, the Congress shall call a constitutional convention for the purpose of proposing amendments: Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Legislature of the State of Kansas, two-thirds of the members elected to the Senate and two-thirds of the members elected to the House of Representatives concurring therein:That the Congress of the United States is hereby requested to propose and submit to the states an amendment to the Constitution of the United States which would require that within five years after its ratification by the various states, in the absence of a national emergency, the total of all appropriations made by the Congress for a fiscal year shall not exceed the total of all estimated federal revenues for such fiscal year; and
Be it further resolved:That, alternatively, the Legislature of the State of Kansas hereby makes application to the Congress of the United States to call a convention for the sole and exclusive purpose of proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States which would require that, in the absence of a national emergency, the total of all appropriations made by the Congress for a fiscal year shall not exceed the total of all estimated federal revenues for such fiscal year. If the Congress shall propose such an amendment to the Constitution, this application shall no longer be of any force or effect; and
Be it further resolved:That the legislature of each of the other states in the Union is hereby urged to request and apply to the Congress to propose, or to call a convention for the sole and exclusive purpose of proposing, such an amendment to the Constitution.
Be it further resolved:That the Secretary of State be directed to transmit copies of this resolution to the Clerk of the United States Senate, each member of the Kansas delegation in the United States Congress and the secretary of state and presiding officers of each house of the legislature of each state.
I hereby certify that the above CONCURRENT RESOLUTION originated in the SENATE, and was adopted by that body
March 7, 1978
Ross O’Doyen
President of the Senate
Lu Kenney
Secretary of the Senate
Adopted by the House April 26, 1978
John Carlin
Speaker of the House
Geneva Seward
Chief Clerk of the House