HOUSE Final Reading April 18, 2011First Regular Session Sixty-eighth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO ENGROSSED LLS NO. R11-0005.01 John Kilgour HJR11-1017 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Swalm and Casso, Priola, Beezley, Barker, Becker, Bradford, Baumgardner, Joshi, Conti, DelGrosso, Stephens, Szabo, Swerdfeger, Summers, Holbert, Murray, Brown, Balmer, McNulty, Vaad, Ramirez, Acree, Pabon, Soper SENATE SPONSORSHIP Grantham and White, Lundberg, Mitchell, Cadman, King K., King S., Lambert, Roberts, Scheffel House Committees Senate Committees HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 11-1017 Concerning a request that Congress call a convention for the limited purpose of considering an amendment to the United States Constitution to require a balanced federal budget and restrain federal spending. WHEREAS, As of March 2010, federal government spending had increased over the previous 5-year period from nearly 20% of the American economy, its historical average since the end of World War II, to 24.7% of the American economy; and WHEREAS, During that same period, federal expenditures rose from $2.47 trillion to $3.52 trillion, an increase of 42%, and the budget proposed by the Obama administration in February 2011 calls for $3.73 trillion in federal spending; and WHEREAS, Such high levels of spending have resulted in growing federal budget deficits and a rapid expansion of the federal debt; and WHEREAS, The national debt of the United States currently stands at over $14 trillion and continues to grow, and estimates of the United States' total unfunded liability for all obligations, including Social Security and Medicare, range from approximately $50 trillion to over $100 trillion; and WHEREAS, In February 2011, the Obama administration projected that the federal budget deficit for the current fiscal year will reach a record high of $1.65 trillion; and WHEREAS, The Congressional Budget Office has described the long-term budget outlook as "daunting", and the Obama administration has estimated that its current budget proposal will result in annual deficits of over $600 billion and will add over $7 trillion to the national debt over the next decade; and WHEREAS, As a share of gross domestic product (GDP), the national debt increased from 36% of GDP at the end of 2007 to 62% of GDP at the end of 2010, and the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that it will reach 69% of GDP by the end of 2011 and 77% of GDP by 2021; and WHEREAS, Federal spending has put the United States' credit rating at risk, as Moody's Investors Service and Standard and Poor's have cautioned that United States Treasury bonds could lose their triple-A credit rating if the federal government fails to effectively manage its debt; and WHEREAS, Our debt is increasingly owed to the governments of foreign nations, not to the citizens of the United States; therefore, our wealth is transferred to others and may compromise the ability of the United States to exercise independent judgment in foreign policy issues; and WHEREAS, The federal government's persistent deficit spending has created an ever-increasing burden for the American people and for future generations of Americans; and WHEREAS, Continued deficit spending demonstrates the unwillingness or inability of the federal government to limit spending to available resources; and WHEREAS, Like many other state legislatures, the Colorado General Assembly has successfully maintained a balanced budget and saved the people of this state from crippling deficits and massive debt burdens; and WHEREAS, The Colorado General Assembly understands that, while there are inherent risks in calling for a convention to amend the Constitution of the United States, the scope of the federal deficit and the extent of the debt accumulated by the federal government make the risk of inaction even greater; and WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United States provides that amendments to the Constitution may be proposed to the states for ratification by a convention called by Congress on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, which proposed amendments shall be valid to all intents and purposes when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states or by conventions in three-fourths of the states, as either mode of ratification may be proposed by Congress; now, therefore, Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty-eighth General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein: (1) That we, the members of the Colorado General Assembly, with all due respect and great reluctance, do hereby make application to the Congress of the United States to call a convention pursuant to article V of the Constitution of the United States for the limited purpose of considering an amendment to the Constitution of the United States containing the following provisions: (a) The total amount of money expended by the United States in any fiscal year shall not exceed the total amount of revenue received by the United States during such fiscal year, except revenue received from the issuance of bonds, notes, or other obligations of the United States; (b) The total amount of money expended by the United States in any fiscal year shall not exceed the amount equal to 20% of the gross domestic product of the United States during the last calendar year ending before the beginning of such fiscal year; (c) The requirements specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection (1) shall not apply during any fiscal year during any part of which the United States is at war as declared by Congress under section 8 of article I of the Constitution; and (d) The requirements specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection (1) may be suspended by a concurrent resolution approved by a two-thirds vote of the members of each house of Congress. Any such suspension shall be effective only during the fiscal year during which the suspension is approved. (2) That, in the event that a convention called by Congress pursuant to the application set forth in subsection (1) of this Joint Resolution exceeds the limited purpose of considering an amendment containing the provisions specified in said subsection (1), such application shall be rescinded and shall be of no effect. Be It Further Resolved, That this Joint Resolution be sent to President Barack Obama, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John Boehner, Democratic Leader of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader of the United States Senate Harry Reid, Republican Leader of the United States Senate Mitch McConnell, and the members of Colorado's congressional delegation.