# H.J.Res. 139 (119th): This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment prohibiting total federal expenditures for a year from exceeding the average annual federal receipts collected in the three prior years, adjusted for changes in the population of U.S

This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment prohibiting total federal expenditures for a year from exceeding the average annual federal receipts collected in the three prior years, adjusted for changes in the population of U.S. citizens and inflation. Expenditures for payment of debt and receipts derived from borrowing are excluded. Under the amendment, Congress may authorize specific expenditures in excess of the limit with (1) a roll call vote of two-thirds of each chamber, or (2) a roll call vote for any year in which a declaration of war is in effect. The amendment also prohibits any bill to levy a new tax or increase the rate of any tax from becoming law unless it has been approved by a roll call vote of two-thirds of the whole number of each chamber of Congress. The requirements take effect in the fifth year beginning after ratification of the amendment.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: appropriations. Category: corruption_stewardship. Lane tag: general equity.
Lane: balanced_budget. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: constitutional_amendment. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: constitutional_restraint. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: debt_spending. Category: honest_money. Lane tag: prudential.
Lane: fiscal_limit. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: fiscal_responsibility. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: tax_restraint. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 95: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The amendment is a prudential fiscal restraint with real goods, including limits on runaway spending and a supermajority check on tax increases. It also raises legitimate concerns about rigidity in emergencies, exclusion of debt service from the cap, and the possible burden of tax-increase supermajorities. Nothing in the summary directly advances a named moral evil or directly restrains one, so the measure falls within ordinary prudential disagreement rather than a hard moral verdict.
Theological note: This measure concerns the stewardship of public resources and the limits placed on government power over the people's earnings and debts. Scripture commends prudence, honest weights, and avoiding the burden of debt, while also warning against oppressive taxation and against rulers who lay heavy burdens on others. Fiscal limits can serve those ends by restraining unchecked spending and tax increases, though their wisdom depends on their design, exceptions, and effects on the common good. The issue is one of prudential stewardship and constitutional restraint rather than a direct question of innocent blood or the direct advancement of moral evil.

## Recorded votes

Roll 95: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass. Yea 211 · Nay 207 · Other 14.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hjres-139-119/