Wyoming
“[P]ursuant to the provisions of Article V of the Constitution of the United States, application is hereby made to the Congress of the United States to call a convention for the purpose of proposing an amendment to such Constitution under which, except for trust fund expenditures and receipts, the expenditures of the Federal Government during any fiscal year may not exceed the estimated receipts of such Government during such fiscal year, unless a substantial majority of the Congress, on recommendation of the President and because of war or other grave national emergency, votes to suspend the limitation on expenditures for a specified period of time.” – Wyoming HJR 7 (1961)
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.
Wyoming HJR 7 (1961) 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.”
HJR 7 (1961)
A JOINT RESOLUTION making application to the Congress of the United States urging the call of a convention on behalf of an amendment to the Constitution of the United States under which expenditures of the Federal Government may not exceed estimated receipts except in emergency and by vote of a substantial majority of the Congress.
WHEREAS, the cumulated net federal deficit has grown to unmanageable proportions over the past thirty years and in this period there have been eighteen deficits in twenty-three non-war years; and
WHEREAS, governments should be required to operate within their income;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the House of the Thirty-Sixth Legislature of the State of Wyoming, the Senate of such Legislature concurring, that, pursuant to the provisions of Article V of the Constitution of the United States, application is hereby made to the Congress of the United States to call a convention for the purpose of proposing an amendment to such Constitution under which, except for trust fund expenditures and receipts, the expenditures of the Federal Government during any fiscal year may not exceed the estimated receipts of such Government during such fiscal year, unless a substantial majority of the Congress, on recommendation of the President and because of war or other grave national emergency, votes to suspend the limitation on expenditures for a specified period of time; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that certified copies thereof be promptly transmitted to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of said Congress, United States Senator J. J. Hickey, United States Senator Gale W. McGee, Representative in Congress William Henry Harrison, United States Senator Styles Bridges, and United States Senator Harry F. Byrd.
ALBERT C. HARDING
President of the Senate
JOSEPH L. BUDD
Speaker of the House
APPROVED
Feb 21 1963
JACK R. GAGE
ACTING GOVERNOR
8:20 A.M.