The National
Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) praised the Michigan
legislature for passing the resolution that petitions Congress for a
Constitutional Convention for the purpose of adopting a balanced budget
amendment to the US Constitution as provided for in Article V.
The Resolution, SJR V, sponsored by Senator Mike Green, is part of a
nationwide effort to use the Article V process outlined in the U.S. Constitution
to move Congress toward adopting a Balanced Budget Amendment. The process requires 34 state legislatures to adopt similar
resolutions that would call for a convention to propose a balanced budget
amendment. Twenty two states have already passed the Resolution.
In his annual State
of the State Address Governor Snyder said that he supported the resolution to
use the Article V process to require a balanced federal budget. The
Senate passed the measure last year and a House substitute version
was concurred in by the full Senate last week. The Resolution does not require the
Governor’s approval and so Michigan has become the twenty third state to pass
the Article V balanced budget resolution.
Small business
owners are fed up with the federal government’s failure to address the basic
budgeting that every citizen and small business must adhere to in their daily
activities. It is time for the
states and citizens to use the powers provided by the founding fathers in our
Constitution to put an end to this irresponsible behavior.
Small business owners have long supported a Balanced Budget Proposal with
a recent NFIB Member Survey indicating that 90 percent of small business owners
want a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. NFIB was the only
business group that testified in support of SJR V before the Senate
Government Operations Committee and the House Financial Liability Committee.
NFIB has consistently
urged Congress to balance the federal budget but the chance of that happening
appears to be extremely remote. The state’s created the
federal government and the framers of our Constitution envisioned a time like
this when only the states are capable of acting.
America’s national
debt now exceeds $17 trillion with annual deficits in the hundreds of billions
of dollars projected far into the future. Recently, Bloomberg reported that China now holds more than $1.3 trillion of US debt.
Whether the
Article V effort motivates Congress to act or it succeeds on its own, taxpayers
and citizens are the winners. It should also be understood that
since the President does not have a constitutional role in the amendment
process, the joint resolution does not go to the White House for signature or
approval.
More
information on the Balanced Budget Amendment.
