From the Associated Press:
A proposal calling for a constitutional amendment to limit the federal government’s spending power is headed to the Idaho Senate floor despite attracting strong opposition from citizens who have flooded lawmakers’ inboxes and flocked to the Capitol to warn against the measure’s consequences.
The Senate State Affairs spent more than two hours Friday listening to public testimony on a proposal calling for a convention of states to propose a federal balanced budget requirement. The panel eventually voted 5-4 after little debate, sparking hissing and shouts of “shame” from the audience.
“We can’t continue to go down this road, we have to send a message to Washington, D.C., that they have to curtail their spending,” said Republican Sen. Marv Hagedorn, of Meridian, who is sponsoring the legislation. “We are addicted to our federal programs and we are living beyond our means.”
Supporters of the resolution said that every state except Vermont has some sort of balanced budget requirement and that the federal government should be held to the same standard.
Former Idaho U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, who pushed for a balanced budget amendment during his nearly 30 years in public office, said that there is no appetite in Congress to reign itself in.
“We are now there at a fiscal crisis, I do believe,” said Craig, who resigned from office following a sex scandal. “Will it happen in our lifetime? What if it does? I believe it will. I believe there will come a day when we can no longer honor our debt at the rate that we are currently honoring it.”