Why Compact for a Balanced Budget? The National Debt Crisis Requires State Leadership Certainty: The Compact delivers certainty by pre-committing 38 states and simple majorities of Congress to everything involved in advancing, proposing and ratifying a federal Balanced Budget Amendment before an Article V convention is organized. Safety: The Compact promises safety by limiting the Article V convention it organizes to a 24 hour up-or-down vote on a specific federal Balanced Budget Amendment. Speed: The Compact furnishes speed by consolidating into one bill everything the states do in the amendment process and everything Congress does into one resolution. Restraint: The Compact’s Balanced Budget Amendment enforces a glide path to balanced
budgets by limiting Washington’s borrowing capacity to 105% of the outstanding debt on ratification and otherwise restricting federal spending to revenue at all times. Responsibility: The Amendment keeps all responsible revenue options on the table, but encourages spending reductions before tax increases to close deficits. Practicality: The Amendment handles national emergencies with release valves that do not
enable easy evasion of its limit on federal borrowing capacity, such as requiring a majority of state legislatures to approve any increase in the federal debt limit.
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