Senator Hatch Proposes Balanced Budget Amendmnet Which Entire Republican Senate Conference Backs

As part of his ongoing effort to restore the nation’s fiscal house, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, today unveiled S.J. Res. 10, a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution that will bring down the nation’s skyrocketing national debt by requiring the government to balance its budget, limiting the growth of government spending, and requiring supermajorities for tax increases.

Hatch spearheaded negotiations for the proposed amendment which brings together major components of an amendment introduced earlier this year by Hatch and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) and a proposal by Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). S.J. Res. 10 has garnered the support of the entire Senate Republican Conference, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Republican Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Senate Republican Conference Chair Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, John Cornyn (R-Texas.), and Chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, John Thune (R-S.D.).

“Under the Obama Administration, federal spending has reached 25 percent of our nation’s economic output. We are spending at a level not seen since World War II and it is clear we cannot afford to sustain this White House’s big-spending, tax-hiking, debt-increasing agenda,” said Hatch. “Hard-working families across the country have tightened their belts, balanced their budgets, and lived within their means, and the federal government ought to do the same. Regrettably, Washington has proven it won’t solve this crisis on its own. A Balanced Budget Amendment will be the shot in the arm Washington needs to effectively hold down spending.”

Today, the national debt stands at more than $14 trillion. And, according to Congress’s non-partisan budget score-keeper, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the nation’s debt could reach an astonishing 90 percent of GDP in less than a decade with the government spending almost $1 trillion on interest payments alone. A longtime champion of a Balanced Budget Amendment, Hatch has introduced similar proposals five times throughout his tenure in Congress and has supported or cosponsored proposals more than 20 times. The Senate came within one vote of approving a similar amendment put forward by Hatch in 1997.

In addition to 47 Republican cosponsors the Hatch Amendment has garnered the support of Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Limited Government, Pass the Balanced Budget Amendment, 60 Plus Association, National Tax Limitation Committee, National Taxpayers Union, American Council for Health Reform, Americans for Prosperity, FreedomWorks, Grassroot Voices, EndingSpending.com and the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste. Click here to see their letters of support.

Specifically, S.J. Res. 10, the Balanced Budget Amendment:

• Mandates that total budgetary outlays for any fiscal year not exceed total revenues.
• Caps federal spending at 18 percent of GDP.
• Requires the President to submit a balanced budget to Congress every fiscal year.
• Requires a two-thirds supermajority for any new tax, any increase in tax rates, or any bill that is a net revenue raiser. Requires a supermajority to raise the debt limit.
• Allows for waiver of limits if there is a formal declaration of war, if the U.S. is engaged in a military conflict constituting a threat to national security, or if two-thirds of both the House and Senate approve.

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