A House lawmaker is renewing the push to pass legislation that would require the federal government to produce a balanced budget annually, reminding his colleagues that it was a priority for House Speaker Paul Ryan in past years.
“The principles are simple: balance, which can take place over multiple years to accommodate economic conditions; emergency spending with supermajority support; and a full decade after ratification to get to balance,” Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., wrote in a letter to fellow lawmakers on Monday, urging them to take action on legislation he introduced.
Brat introduced his proposal in early 2015. While it has 36 co-sponsors, the measure has made little progress since that time. In his letter on Monday, Brat tried to renew the sense of urgency.
“Speaker Ryan has been sounding the alarm about unsustainable benefits programs for years,” Brat wrote. In 2011, he recollected, Ryan said the debt was “truly scary” and “going to get out of … control pretty soon.”
Conservatives have for years advocated for a constitutional amendment that would require the federal budget to be balanced. Under Article V of the Constitution, a constitutional convention can be convened at the request of 34 states. To date, 27 states have approved calls for such a convention. Brat closed by reminding lawmakers that his proposal could prevent that scenario. “Only seven more states are needed to call an Article V convention, and the top prospects are almost all in session this year,” he wrote. “We don’t know how that process would play out, but we shouldn’t wait. Congress should move quickly to send a well-written [balanced budget amendment] to the states, and we need to begin reforming programs immediately to establish a path to balance.”
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National debt hit $19 trillion for the first time in history last Friday, and the pace of growth is accelerating. Brat has pointed out that analysts estimate it will rise to $29.3 trillion by 2026 given the present rate of growth.
