Sens. Orrin Hatch, Mike Lee pushing for Balanced Budget Amendment

WASHINGTON — Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee and four other senate Republicans came together last week to unveil the Senate Republican Balanced Budget Amendment. If ratified, the amendment would mandate that budgetary outlays for any fiscal year do not exceed total revenues, and would require that the president submit a balanced budget to Congress ever year. Using the amendment as a loud statement about fiscal conservatism, Hatch and Lee hope to send a message to Congress and the American people that they are dedicated to getting federal spending under control.

"If we are fortunate enough to get this passed, this amendment is really going to put the screws to excessive spending," said Hatch. "We need this amendment, because Washington is not going to solve this crisis on it's own."

Lee, who ran a campaign full of promises to restrict federal spending, hopes that this amendment will put an end to what he sees as dismal fiscal irresponsibility.

In a press release, Lee said: "When it comes to spending, Congress has proven it cannot be trusted to live within its means or spend only what the federal government takes in. Our annual deficit approaching $1.7 trillion and national debt of almost $15 trillion are a significant threat to our economy, job growth, and future prosperity. Only a structural restraint on spending, like a constitutional amendment, will force Congress to make the tough decisions about our national priorities and prevent digging the country deeper in debt."

The measure was set to hit the Senate floor on March 17, but was barred from presentation at the last minute by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in hopes to garner the support of all 47 members of the Senate Republican Caucus. Because of the strategic delay, the amendment now has the official support of all Senate Republicans. Despite the unanimous Republican support, the amendment faces a difficult road to passage — Republicans will have to recruit at least 20 more votes from their Democratic colleagues in order to have two-thirds of the chamber on board, the amount required for passage in both the House and the Senate. It would then need to be ratified by three-quarters of the state legislatures before it could officially become the 28th amendment to the Constitution.

Hatch, however, has been through this before. This amendment marks the fifth time that he has sponsored or co-sponsored a balanced budget amendment that has reached the senate floor. The most recent one he sponsored in 1997, was only one vote shy of passage. So while Hatch understands the uphill battle this amendment faces in the Senate, he is confident that he and his fellow cosponsors have a decent shot at pushing this through.