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JOINT RESOLUTION MAKING APPLICATION TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES CALLING A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION UNDER ARTICLE V OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION LIMITED TO PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION TO REQUIRE A BALANCED FEDERAL BUDGET
WHEREAS, under the United States Constitution, Article V, the Congress of the United States, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to the United States Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments that, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the United States Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; and
WHEREAS,  with each passing year, this nation becomes more deeply in debt as its expenditures grossly and repeatedly exceed available revenues, so that the public debt now exceeds hundreds of billions of dollars; and
WHEREAS,  the annual federal budget is a continual demonstration of an unwillingness or inability of both the legislative and executive branches of the Federal Government to curtail spending to conform to available revenues; and
WHEREAS,  unified budgets do not reflect actual spending because of the exclusion of special outlays that are neither included in the budget nor subject to the legal public debt limit; and
WHEREAS,  knowledgeable planning, fiscal prudence and plain good sense require that the budget reflect all federal spending and be in balance; and
WHEREAS,  believing that fiscal irresponsibility at the federal level, with the inflation that results from this policy, is the greatest threat that faces our nation, we firmly believe that constitutional restraint is necessary to bring about the fiscal discipline needed to restore financial responsibility; and
WHEREAS,  we believe action on amendments to the United States Constitution concerning federal expenditures to be vital; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That the Legislature of Maine respectfully applies to the Congress of the United States, under the provisions of Article V of the United States Constitution, for the calling of a convention of the states limited to proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution requiring that, in the absence of a national emergency, the total of all federal outlays made by the Congress of the United States for any fiscal year may not exceed the total of all estimated federal revenues for that fiscal year, together with any related and appropriate fiscal restraints; and be it further
RESOLVED: That this application is to be considered as covering the same subject matter as the presently outstanding balanced budget applications from other states, including but not limited to previously adopted applications from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia; and this application must be aggregated with same for the purpose of attaining the two-thirds of states necessary to require the calling of a convention for proposing amendments, but may not be aggregated with any applications on any other subject; and be it further
RESOLVED: That this application constitutes a continuing application in accordance with Article V of the United States Constitution until the legislatures of at least two-thirds of the several states have made applications on the same subject. It supersedes all previous applications by this Legislature on the same subject; and be it further
RESOLVED: That suitable copies of this resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to the Secretary of the Senate and presiding officers of both houses of the legislatures of each of the several states in the nation, the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the President and Secretary of the United States Senate and each member of the Maine Congressional Delegation.