Mich. may help spur convention on federal budget
Livingston Daily Christopher Behnan Daily Press & Argus Feb 15, 2014
http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20140216/NEWS01/302160007/Mich-may-help-spur-convention-federal-budget
A proposal in Lansing would help force a convention that would decide —
without Congress — whether to require a balanced federal budget in the U.S.
Constitution.
Republicans,
including Gov. Rick Snyder, claim a balanced-budget amendment would help rescue
the country from crippling debt.
Some Michigan Democrats and
economists believe that requiring a balanced federal budget could force painful
cuts, tax increases, or both in a weak economy.
The Constitution’s
Article 5 requires two-thirds of the country’s legislatures, or 34, to approve
an application calling for a constitutional convention.
To date, 20 state
legislatures have approved applications, and Michigan could be next.
“The forefathers
that wrote the Constitution were really concerned about the federal Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.Error! Hyperlink reference not
valid. overstepping its
boundary and running up a huge debt, and so they actually already were
concerned about this back then. So it’s interesting that they already have this
within the Constitution,” said state Rep. Cindy Denby,
R-Handy Township, who sits on the committee
reviewing application resolutions.
“We see each year
... that the deficit is higher than it was a couple years ago. If the deficit
is that much higher, then in my opinion, it would show no, they’re not dealing
with a balanced budget,” Denby added.
The resolutions
call for prohibiting federal appropriations to exceed estimated federal
revenues.
Requiring a
balanced federal budget could hamper funding to Michigan if spending cuts were needed to
balance the federal ledger, the House Fiscal Agency concluded.
Roughly 42 percent
of the current state budget, or $21 billion, is from federal sources, the
agency said.
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