Bill Sponsor
Senate Joint Resolution 39
115th Congress(2017-2018)
A joint resolution proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Introduced
Introduced
Introduced in Senate on Mar 30, 2017
Overview
Text
Introduced
Mar 30, 2017
Latest Action
Mar 30, 2017
Origin Chamber
Senate
Type
Joint Resolution
Joint Resolution
A form of legislative measure used to propose changes in law, or to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Depending on the chamber of origin, they begin with a designation of either H.J.Res. or S.J.Res. Concurrent resolutions and simple resolutions are other types of resolutions. Bill is another form of legislative measure used to propose law.
Bill Number
39
Congress
115
Policy Area
Economics and Public Finance
Economics and Public Finance
Primary focus of measure is budgetary matters such as appropriations, public debt, the budget process, government lending, government accounts and trust funds; monetary policy and inflation; economic development, performance, and economic theory.
Sponsorship by Party
Democrat
Indiana
Democrat
Montana
Democrat
North Dakota
Democrat
West Virginia
Senate Votes (0)
House Votes (0)
No Senate votes have been held for this bill.
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 resolution requires the President to annually submit to Congress a budget in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts.

The balanced budget requirement does not apply if:

  • a declaration of war is in effect or if the United States is engaged in military conflict which causes an imminent and serious military threat to national security; or
  • during the fiscal year or preceding fiscal year, the U.S. economy grew by less than 0% in real gross domestic product during two or more consecutive quarters or the unemployment rate was more than 7% during two or more consecutive months.

The resolution 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.

Text (1)
March 30, 2017
Actions (2)
03/30/2017
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
03/30/2017
Introduced in Senate
Public Record
Record Updated
Jan 11, 2023 1:36:09 PM