S-0695.1

SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 8004

BySenators O'Ban, Rivers, Fortunato, Braun, Warnick, Becker, Honeyford, Bailey, Wagoner, Brown, and Palumbo

TO THE HONORABLE DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:

We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

WHEREAS, The national debt is growing at unprecedented rates, thereby mounting a serious threat to the solvency, security, and prosperity of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Congress and successive presidential administrations have shown little inclination to constrain their chronic deficit spending; and

WHEREAS, The Legislature of the State of Washington deems that an amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring a balanced federal budget, is necessary for the good of the American people;

NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully apply, under the provisions of Article V of the Constitution of the United States, for the calling of a convention of the states limited to proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States requiring that in the absence of a national emergency the total of all federal outlays made by Congress for any fiscal year may not exceed the total of all estimated federal revenues for that fiscal year, together with any related and appropriate fiscal restraints.

BE IT RESOLVED, That this Memorial is to be considered as covering the same subject as the balanced budget amendment language of the presently outstanding balanced budget applications from the other states, including but not limited to previously adopted applications from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming; and this application shall be aggregated with the same for the purpose of attaining the two-thirds of states necessary to require the calling of a convention for proposing a balanced budget amendment, but shall not be aggregated with any applications on any other subject.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this Memorial constitutes a continuing application in accordance with Article V of the Constitution of the United States until the legislature of at least two-thirds of the several states have made applications on the same subject.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington, and to the presiding officers of each of the legislative houses in the several states, requesting their cooperation.

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