HJRES17Referred to Committee

Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

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Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2025-01-13
Introduced
2
Cosponsors
HJRES
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Jay Obernolte
Jay Obernolte
Republican · CA · Representative
Votes with party: 96.2% (550 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/O000019

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (2)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

2025-01-13

Source: Congress.gov

Plain-English Summary

This proposal would add an amendment to the Constitution requiring the federal government to balance its budget each year, meaning it cannot spend more money than it collects in taxes and revenue. The amendment would force Congress to make difficult choices about spending and taxes to avoid running a deficit, though it could include exceptions for emergencies like wars or recessions. If approved by Congress and ratified by the states, this would fundamentally change how the government manages its finances and could limit its ability to borrow money or invest in programs during economic downturns.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Subjects

Economics and Public Finance

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.J. Res. 17 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. J. RES. 17 Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 13, 2025 Mr. Obernolte (for himself and Mr. Weber of Texas) submitted the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary _______________________________________________________________________ JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification: ``Article-- ``Section 1. Total outlays for any fiscal year shall not exceed total receipts for that fiscal year, unless two-thirds of the whole number of each House of Congress shall provide by law for a specific excess of outlays over receipts by a rollcall vote. ``Section 2. Prior to each fiscal year, the President shall transmit to the Congress a proposed budget for the United States Government for that fiscal year in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts. ``Section 3. The Congress shall enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation, which may rely on estimates of outlays and receipts. ``Section 4. Total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States Government except those derived from borrowing. Total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States Government except for those for repayment of debt principal. ``Section 5. This article shall take effect beginning with the fifth fiscal year beginning after its ratification.''. <all>
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