Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HJR44 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R23541 TJB-D
2	2	By: Workman, et al. H.J.R. No. 44
3	3	Substitute the following for H.J.R. No. 44:
4	4	By: Darby C.S.H.J.R. No. 44
5	5
6	6
7	7	A JOINT RESOLUTION
8	8	applying to the Congress of the United States to call a convention
9	9	under Article V of the United States Constitution for the limited
10	10	purpose of proposing an amendment to the constitution to provide
11	11	for a federal balanced budget.
12	12	WHEREAS, The drafters of the United States Constitution
13	13	empowered state legislatures to be guardians of liberty against
14	14	abuses of power by the federal government; and
15	15	WHEREAS, The federal government has abused its power by
16	16	creating a crushing national debt through improper and imprudent
17	17	spending; and
18	18	WHEREAS, The federal government has ceased to abide by a
19	19	proper interpretation of the United States Constitution; and
20	20	WHEREAS, In 1977 the 65th Texas Legislature submitted to the
21	21	federal government H.C.R. No. 31 requesting Congress to prepare and
22	22	submit to the several states an amendment to the United States
23	23	Constitution providing for a federal balanced budget, or
24	24	alternatively requesting Congress to call a constitutional
25	25	convention for the purpose of proposing such an amendment; and
26	26	WHEREAS, Congress has not acted to amend the United States
27	27	Constitution to provide for a federal balanced budget or to
28	28	otherwise impose fiscal restraints on the federal government; and
29	29	WHEREAS, It is the solemn duty of state legislatures to
30	30	protect the liberty of the people and of future generations by
31	31	proposing amendments to the United States Constitution that place
32	32	clear restraints on federal power; and
33	33	WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution
34	34	authorizes the several state legislatures to restrict the power of
35	35	the federal government through the amendment process; and
36	36	WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution provides
37	37	that on application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the
38	38	several states Congress shall call a convention for the purpose of
39	39	proposing amendments to the constitution; now, therefore, be it
40	40	RESOLVED, That the 85th Texas Legislature hereby applies to
41	41	Congress to call a convention under Article V of the United States
42	42	Constitution for the limited purpose of proposing an amendment to
43	43	the constitution requiring, in the absence of a national emergency,
44	44	that the total of all federal appropriations made by Congress for
45	45	any fiscal year may not exceed the total of all estimated federal
46	46	revenue for that fiscal year; and, be it further
47	47	RESOLVED, That, unless rescinded by a succeeding
48	48	legislature, this application by the 85th Texas Legislature
49	49	constitutes a continuing application in accordance with Article V
50	50	of the United States Constitution until at least two-thirds of the
51	51	legislatures of the several states have applied to Congress to call
52	52	a convention for the limited purpose of proposing an amendment to
53	53	the constitution to provide for a federal balanced budget; and, be
54	54	it further
55	55	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
56	56	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
57	57	the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the
58	58	Senate of the Congress of the United States, and to all members of
59	59	the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this
60	60	resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as an
61	61	application to Congress for a convention under Article V of the
62	62	United States Constitution for the limited purpose of proposing an
63	63	amendment to the constitution to provide for a federal balanced
64	64	budget; and, be it further
65	65	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
66	66	copies of this resolution to the secretaries of state and to the
67	67	presiding officers of the legislatures of the several states with
68	68	the request that they join this state in applying to Congress for a
69	69	convention under Article V of the United States Constitution for
70	70	the limited purpose of proposing an amendment to the constitution
71	71	to provide for a federal balanced budget.