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HJRES 55 116th Congress House Economics and Public Finance Budget deficits and national debt Budget process Constitution and constitutional amendments Economic performance and conditions Government trust funds Legislative rules and procedure Medicare Social security and elderly assistance Unemployment

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

Introduced: April 9, 2019 See on congress.gov
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This bill died when the 116th Congress ended
It never became law before the 116th Congress (2019–2020) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
May 3, 2019
Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
Apr 9, 2019
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Apr 9, 2019
Introduced in House
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 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

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, and receipts or outlays of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.

The amendment requires the President to annually submit to Congress a budget in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts.

The amendment specifies exceptions to the requirements if a declaration of war is in effect, the United States is engaged in military conflict that causes an imminent and serious military threat to national security, economic growth is less than 0%, or the unemployment rate is more than 7%.

The amendment 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.

What's happening now May 3, 2019

Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

 Related & companion bills 4
  • SJRES 18 Related bill A joint resolution proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
  • HJRES 6 Related bill Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
  • HJRES 11 Related bill Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to provide for balanced budgets for the Government.
  • HJRES 22 Related bill Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 2
 Cosponsors 8
All 8 Democratic 3 Republican 1
R
Van Drew, Jefferson
New Jersey · Jun 20, 2019
 D
Case, Ed
Hawaii · Apr 9, 2019
 D
Correa, J. Luis
California · Apr 9, 2019
Crist, Charlie
· Apr 9, 2019
 D
Gottheimer, Josh
New Jersey · Apr 9, 2019
Lipinski, Daniel
· Apr 9, 2019
Murphy, Stephanie
· Apr 9, 2019
Schrader, Kurt
· Apr 9, 2019
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.J. Res. 55: Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.. 116th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/116-HJRES-55/
MLA
"H.J. Res. 55: Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.." 116th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/116-HJRES-55/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.J. Res. 55, 116th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/116-HJRES-55/.
Markdown link
[H.J. Res. 55: Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.](https://openamerica.io/bill/116-HJRES-55/)
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