This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Washington • All 47 Republican senators back an effort by Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee to amend the Constitution to require Congress to balance its annual budgets, and the group expects to win enough Democratic support to pass the measure.
"We will have a vote on this," Hatch said Thursday at a news conference in the Capitol, standing shoulder to shoulder with about 20 colleagues.
The six-term Utah Republican senator added that he believes several Democrats would back the measure.
Pressure now falls to some moderate Democrats, including Sen. Ben Nelson, of Nebraska, and Joe Manchin, of West Virginia.
The proposal would need the support of two-thirds of both houses of Congress, but optimistic GOP senators point to a nonbinding vote earlier in March in which 13 Democrats voted for the concept of a balanced-budget amendment.
House passage seems more certain, given that chamber's large GOP majority.
Even if Congress signed off, 38 state legislatures would need to do the same to make the balanced-budget measure the Constitution's 28th Amendment.
"It'll be the fastest ratification in history," predicted Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas.
Critics point to the dramatic cuts that would have to take place if the budget process were limited as well as the potential for budget gimmickry to hide government spending. And they note that such an amendment would bar efforts such as the stimulus act that is credited for helping turn around a recession.
The amendment would cap annual federal spending at 18 percent of the gross domestic product but allow exceptions if Congress declares war or the nation faces an imminent security threat.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, singled out Hatch for leading the charge on the amendment. Other senators noted that if Hatch's attempt in 1997 to pass such a measure had not fallen short by one vote, the country would be in a better shape financially today.
Lee, a freshman who has made the amendment a top goal, said constitutionally requiring Congress to balance the budget is the only way to stop the "perpetual, reckless runaway spending."
Lee also disagreed with his predecessor, former Sen. Bob Bennett, who said earlier this week that it would be "very, very dangerous" to put a percentage in the nation's guiding document.
"It'd be dangerous not to," Lee said, noting that without putting the number in stone, Congress simply could change it at will.
Hatch said he believed Bennett would vote for the amendment. If he wouldn't, Hatch added, then "he has a different constituency now."
What abalanced-budget amendment would do
Cap federal spending at 18 percent of gross domestic product.
Restrict Congress from spending more than the government brings in, except for during times of war or a national security threat.
Not take effect for five years to give Congress time to reduce spending levels.