Want to See History Being Made?
You may already have heard the word, but we wanted to make sure you shared in the video and testimonial highlights of the historic first meeting of the Balanced Budget Compact Commission - which just took place in Washington, DC on May 25th. The meeting featured testimony from former Wall Street Journal editor and economist Stephen Moore, best-selling author and History Department Chairman Dr. Kevin Gutzman, Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro, and many more!
Why was this meeting so significant? Because it is the first time in the history of the country that an actual agency representing the states has convened in Washington, DC for the purpose of advancing a federal Balanced Budget Amendment. The formation of this governmental body is one of the features of the Compact for America approach to amending the constitution that makes it uniquely powerful and likely to succeed.
Simply put, the states have not just petitioned for a convention call, they have a persistent, legally-empowered champion to make sure that the job gets done.
And with the Speaker Pro Tem of the Mississippi House Greg Snowden, Georgia Representative Paulette Rakestraw and the former Lt. Governor of Alaska Mead Treadwell rounding out the Commission, there are some real heavy weights fighting for the cause!
The meeting was not about jawboning and posturing.
Right now House Concurrent Resolution 26 is pending with around 20 co-sponsors. All HCR 26 needs is a simple majority of both houses of Congress to pass! With the interest and excitement (and pressure) drummed-up by the Commission’s meeting, it is completely realistic to think that HCR26 will pass one or both of the chambers of Congress this year. And if it does pass both chambers—then the fight for a federal Balanced Budget Amendment becomes simply a question as to when 34 more states join the Balanced Budget Compact.
That’s not a long way off! Compacts and uniform legislation dealing with complex subjects have been joined by 38 states at least 31 times in the past—and at least three of these efforts took fewer than 3 years to get to that goal.
If you are as excited as we are about the possibilities that are looming, please consider lending your support to the Compact for America initiative in any way that you can.
And check out the testimony that was received in support of the constitutionality and policy merits of the Balanced Budget Compact effort!
