United States · Bill · SJRES
S.J.Res. 39 (115th)
A joint resolution proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Introduced
30 March 2017
Last action
—
Status
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Sponsors
—
Subjects
Discovery layer
Source updated
10 August 2026
Summary
Constitutional Amendment This joint resolution 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: outlays for repayment of debt principal, receipts derived from borrowing, receipts or outlays of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, and outlays relating to a natural disaster if the law providing the funds explicitly exempts the funds from the requirement and is agreed to by a majority of each chamber of Congress. The resolution requires the President to annually submit to Congress a budget in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts. The balanced budget requirement does not apply if: a declaration of war is in effect or if the United States is engaged in military conflict which causes an imminent and serious military threat to national security; or during the fiscal year or preceding fiscal year, the U.S. economy grew by less than 0% in real gross domestic product during two or more consecutive quarters or the unemployment rate was more than 7% during two or more consecutive months. The resolution prohibits a court from enforcing the requirements by ordering cuts 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.
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Votes
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Versions
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Documents
3 official files
Introduced in Senate (text)
Introduced in Senate (text)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 30 March 2017
Introduced in Senate (PDF)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 30 March 2017
Introduced in Senate
summary · EN · 30 March 2017
Sponsors
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Related records
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Sources
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- Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/39
- Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/115/sjres/39