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Mississippi Balanced Budget Amendment (2015)
| Not on Ballot |
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| This measure was not put on an election ballot |
The Mississippi Balanced Budget Amendment will not appear on the November 3, 2015 ballot in Mississippi as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment. The measure, upon voter approval, would have required the state legislature to "enact a balanced budget of the entire expenditures and revenues of the state for each fiscal year."[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The proposed ballot title was:[1]
| “ | This proposed constitutional amendment requires the Legislature to enact a balanced budget of the entire expenditures and revenues of the state for each fiscal year.[2] | ” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article IV, Mississippi Constitution
The proposed amendment would have added a Section 69A to Article IV of the Mississippi Constitution. The following text would have been added by the proposed measure's approval:[1]
(1) The Legislature shall enact a balanced budget of the entire expenditures and revenues of the state for each fiscal year that meets the requirements of this section.
(2) The total sum of all appropriations by the Legislature for any fiscal year shall not exceed the estimate of the total amount of all estimated revenues that will be available for expenditure during that fiscal year.
(3) The total sum of all appropriations by the Legislature from the State General Fund for any fiscal year shall not exceed the estimate of the total amount of state general funds that will be available for expenditure for that fiscal year.
(4) The provisions of this section shall not apply when the Legislature, by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the elected members of each house, adopts a joint resolution finding that it is necessary to waive the provisions of this section in order to respond to a:
- (a) State of war emergency, in which the State of Mississippi or the United States of America is attacked by an enemy or other hostile force in any manner, including, but not limited to, military aggression, sabotage, terrorism or technological attack against the cybersecurity or financial infrastructure of the United States, or upon receipt by the state of a warning indicating that such an attack or threat is probable or imminent, or in which there exists, or there is a threat of, civil unrest or an insurrection challenging the authority of the government of the state or nation.
- (b) State of natural disaster emergency, in which conditions of disaster or peril to the safety of persons or property exist within the state, having been caused by air or water pollution, fire, flood, storm, earthquake, hurricane, infectious disease or other epidemic, pestilence, resource shortages, or other natural or man-made conditions that, by reasons of their magnitude, require that the provisions of this section be waived.
- (c) State of national economic emergency, in which conditions exist within or affecting the economy of the United States of America that, by reasons of their magnitude, require that the provisions of this section be waived.
(5) The Legislature, by general law, shall enact legislation to implement the provisions of this section.[2]
Opposition
Arguments
- Rep. Bryant Clark (D-47) said, "We've wasted an hour-and-a-half debating something we've done since 1920. We've got a resolution in search of a problem. What problem is it going to fix?"[3]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Mississippi Constitution
The amendment was required to be approved by a two-thirds vote in both state legislative chambers.
On February 10, 2015, the Mississippi House of Representatives voted on the amendment, but the legislation failed to pass. Although 75 legislators voted in favor of the amendment, 80 votes were needed due to the two-thirds vote requirement.[4]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mississippi Legislature, "House Concurrent Resolution 22," accessed April 13, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ WJTV News Channel 12, "Miss. House members reject state balanced budget," February 10, 2015
- ↑ Mississippi Legislature, "House Concurrent Resolution 22 History," accessed February 11, 2015
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State of Mississippi Jackson (capital) |
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