We must enact a Balanced Budget Amendment.
Support a Balanced Budget Amendment.
Occurrences
I believe a key component of getting our nation’s fiscal house in order is adding a Balanced Budget Amendment to our Constitution. This is why I am an original cosponsor of H.J. Res. 113 which proposes an amendment to our Constitution requiring the federal government to balance the budget.
H.J.Res.113 - Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States; Rep. Huizenga, Bill [R-MI-4] * 02/07/2024
Huizenga, a cosponsor and strong supporter of H.J.Res. 2, said, “While an ideal Balanced Budget Amendment would require a GDP percentage cap and a supermajority to raise tax rates, H.J. Res. 2 was a good start.”
Evidence
Do you support a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, requiring that Congress balance the federal budget every year?
This is why I am an original cosponsor of H.J. Res. 113 which proposes an amendment to our Constitution requiring the federal government to balance the budget.
Rep. Huizenga, Bill [R-MI-4] * 02/07/2024
Huizenga, a cosponsor and strong supporter of H.J.Res. 2, said...
Roll Call 858 listed H.J.Res. 2 as “Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States,” status “Failed,” and recorded “Huizenga (MI) Republican Michigan MI Yea.”
Congress.gov lists H.J.Res. 113’s official title as “Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States” and lists “Rep. Huizenga, Bill [R-MI-4]*” as a cosponsor on 02/07/2024.
Huizenga wrote that “a key component” of fiscal responsibility is “adding a Balanced Budget Amendment” and that he was an “original cosponsor of H.J. Res. 113.”
Roll Call 138 listed H.J.Res. 2 as “Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States,” status “Failed,” and recorded “Huizenga Republican Michigan MI Yea.”
Congress.gov’s summary says H.J.Res. 113 “proposes a constitutional amendment prohibiting total federal expenditures for a year from exceeding the average annual federal revenue collected in the three prior years.”
Assessments
The promise was to support a Balanced Budget Amendment, not necessarily to secure final ratification or enactment. In Huizenga's first House term, he voted yea on H.J.Res. 2, a proposed balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and his office described him as a cosponsor and strong supporter. Later cosponsorship of H.J.Res. 113 reinforces the same position, but the first-term vote and cosponsorship are enough to count the promise as delivered in the same term.
The promise was to support a Balanced Budget Amendment, not necessarily to secure ratification or enactment. Huizenga publicly supported and cosponsored balanced budget amendment resolutions, including H.J.Res. 2 in 2011 and H.J.Res. 113 in 2024 during his federal House service. That satisfies the promised action within his term of office. Because cosponsorship and public advocacy are concrete legislative efforts, the effort badge is warranted.
Huizenga promised to support a Balanced Budget Amendment, and the evidence shows repeated affirmative support: he cosponsored H.J.Res. 2 in the 112th Congress and was an original cosponsor of H.J.Res. 113 in the 118th Congress, both proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. Because the promise was to support the amendment rather than secure ratification or enactment, cosponsorship and public advocacy fulfill the stated commitment.