US House Repubs Consider Balanced Budget Amendment Options

–House GOP Ponder Pure Vs (Slightly) More Practical Versions
–House Speaker: Reviewing ‘At Least A Half Dozen’ BBA Alternatives
–Debt Ceiling Deal Requires Votes in Congress By Dec. 31

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – As House Republican leaders prepare for a vote
this fall on a balanced budget constitutional amendment, they are
mulling over a number of different ways to proceed.

At a briefing Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner said there are
“at least a half dozen different versions” of the amendment under
consideration.

“Many of us believe that a balanced budget amendment is the
ultimate enforcement mechanism to control spending here in Washington,”
Boehner said.

Boehner said he is working with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor
to sound out the views of House Republicans “about which version they
would want us to vote on and we’ve got no decision yet, but we’re going
to work with our members to make that decision.”

Under this summer’s debt ceiling agreement, both the House and
Senate must vote on a balanced budget amendment between Sept. 30 and
Dec. 31. The agreement does not specify what version of a balanced
budget amendment should be voted on.

There appear to be two main options facing House GOP leaders
regarding the balanced budget amendment. First, a version that would
require a balanced federal budget every year while capping spending at
18% of gross domestic product and requiring a two-thirds vote by
Congress to increase taxes.

Second, an alternative that would require a balanced budget but not
cap spending or place specific strictures on tax increases. This is the
approach that Congress considered in key balanced budget amendment votes
in the mid-1990s which failed narrowly in the Senate.

For an amendment to be enshrined in the Constitution, it must be
approved by a two-third majority in the House and Senate and then be
ratified by three-quarters (38) of the states.

There is an alternative process that requires the convening of a
constitutional convention. The last constitutional convention convened
in the U.S. was in May of 1787 and produced our current constitution,
says a report by Congressional Research Service.

Any balanced budget amendment is expected to face a tougher fight
in the Senate than in the House.

Bob Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, says he
views the coming congressional debates and votes on a balanced budget
amendment as a “distraction.”

“It seems that Congress tends to consider balanced budget
amendments just at that time when lawmakers are confronted with hard,
specific decisions on how to cut spending or raise taxes,” says Bixby.

“It’s always a lot easier to shift attention to procedures and
processes than taking tough votes to actually cut the deficit. It’s an
avoidance device,” he adds.

Bixby notes that even if the House and Senate passed identical
balanced budget amendments it would almost certainly take years for the
state ratification process.

Bixby is sharply critical of versions of the amendment that seek to
mandate a certain level of spending or taxes, such as those putting
limits on the size of spending as a percentage of GDP.

“It’s a huge mistake to mandate a particular size of government
into the Constitution. The Constitution should not be treated so
frivolously,” he said.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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