# What This Bill Actually Does

This bill proposes a constitutional amendment that would require the federal government to balance its budget—meaning it can't spend more money than it takes in, just like most families and businesses have to do. Right now, the government regularly runs deficits by borrowing money to cover the gap between what it spends and what it collects in taxes. This amendment would make that illegal, with only a few exceptions.

Here's how it would work in practice: Every year, the President would have to submit a budget where spending doesn't exceed revenue. Congress could only approve a budget with a deficit if three-fifths of both the House and Senate vote to allow it—a pretty high bar that would be hard to reach. The amendment wouldn't take effect until five years after it's ratified, giving the government time to adjust. However, there are some important escape hatches built in. During a declared war or military emergency, the balanced budget requirement goes away entirely. If the economy is in recession (negative growth for two quarters) or unemployment exceeds 7 percent, the government could temporarily ignore the requirement. Natural disasters also get special treatment—emergency spending to respond to them wouldn't count against the budget limit if Congress agrees.

The amendment specifically protects Social Security and Medicare from being cut to balance the budget. These programs have their own trust funds, and courts couldn't force reductions in benefits unless those trust funds actually run out of money. This means the real pressure to balance the budget would fall on other government spending like defense, infrastructure, education, and federal employee salaries. Supporters argue this would force fiscal responsibility; critics worry it would severely limit the government's ability to respond to crises, invest in the future, or help people during economic downturns when tax revenue naturally drops.

Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Perez, Marie Gluesenkamp

This bill proposes a constitutional amendment prohibiting total outlays for a fiscal year from exceeding total receipts for that fiscal year unless Congress authorizes the excess by a three-fifths roll call vote of each chamber.The prohibition excludes<ul><li>outlays for repayment of debt principal,</li><li>receipts derived from borrowing,</li><li>receipts or outlays of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, and</li><li>outlays relating to a natural disaster if the act providing the funds explicitly exempts the funds from the requirement and is agreed to by a majority of each chamber of Congress.</li></ul>The amendment requires the President to annually submit to Congress a budget in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts.The amendment specifies exceptions to the requirements if a declaration of war is in effect, the United States is engaged in military conflict that causes an imminent and serious military threat to national security, economic growth is less than 0%, or the unemployment rate is more than 7%.The amendment prohibits a court from enforcing the requirements by ordering reductions to Social Security or Medicare payments unless the funds available to the trust fund for a program are not sufficient to cover the outlays that would occur during the year if the fund were fully solvent.