Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This joint resolution proposes a constitutional balanced-budget rule with an explicit emergency exception. If ratified, Congress would generally have to keep expenditures within rules established by the amendment, but two-thirds of both the House and Senate could authorize spending above those limits for limited emergency periods. The practical effect would be a constitutional fiscal constraint with a supermajority escape valve for wars, disasters, recessions, or other emergencies.
Who Benefits and How
Federal taxpayers benefit if the amendment reduces routine deficit financing and debt accumulation. Balanced-budget advocacy organizations benefit because the proposal constitutionalizes fiscal restraint. Emergency-response programs benefit from an exception process that can authorize temporary deficit spending when two-thirds of both chambers agree. Congressional budget committees benefit from a clearer constitutional framework for enforcing spending rules.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Members of Congress must secure supermajority support before authorizing emergency spending above the limit. Federal agencies may face constrained appropriations outside emergency periods. Federal program beneficiaries may face benefit or service reductions if Congress uses cuts rather than revenue to balance. State legislatures must evaluate ratification of a major federal fiscal amendment.
Key Provisions
- Proposes a constitutional balanced-budget rule for federal spending.
- Requires two-thirds of both the House and Senate for limited emergency deficit spending.
- Authorizes Congress to implement spending rules through constitutional enforcement legislation.
- Changes fiscal-policy bargaining by making deficit exceptions harder than ordinary majority legislation.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Proposes a balanced budget amendment that allows two-thirds of the House and Senate to authorize emergency deficit spending for limited times.
Key Policy Areas
Budget, Constitutional Amendment
Primary Purpose
Proposes a balanced budget amendment that allows two-thirds of the House and Senate to authorize emergency deficit spending for limited times.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Federal taxpayers
- Balanced-budget advocacy organizations
- Emergency-response programs
- Congressional budget committees
Identified Costs
- Members of Congress
- Federal agencies
- Federal program beneficiaries
- State legislatures
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
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