OH FFC Chairman Ken Blackwell leads fight for Balanced Budget Amendment

Ohio FFC Chairman Ken Blackwell has joined a nationwide grassroots effort to push for a balanced budget amendment in the U.S. Congress. Ken is joined in his effort to do so by U.S. Senator-elect Mike Lee of Utah. Below is the exact text of the proposed amendment. You can learn more about this effort by visitingwww.balancedbudgetamendmentnow.com. Amendment XXVIII Section 1. Revenues collected by the Congress during any fiscal year shall not exceed twenty percent of the gross domestic product during the previous fiscal year. Section 2. No later than six months prior to the end of each fiscal year, the President shall transmit to the Congress a proposed budget for the coming fiscal year in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts. Section 3. Total outlays appropriated by the Congress for any fiscal year shall not exceed total receipts for that fiscal year. Total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States except those derived from borrowing. Total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States except for those for repayment of debt principal. The Congress may rely on estimates of outlays and receipts in implementing this section. Section 4. The Congress may exceed the limitations imposed by this article only during a fiscal year in which the Congress, by a vote of two-thirds of the members of each house, has adopted a joint resolution suspending those limitations. Section 5. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Section 6. This article shall become effective beginning with the second fiscal year commencing after the article has been ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states. Section 7. Any Member of Congress shall have standing to bring a federal suit to enforce this article, when authorized to do so by a petition signed by one-third of the Members of either House of Congress.