HB 1059 Summary

• Enacts the "Compact for a Balanced Budget," an interstate compact requiring member states to apply to Congress for a constitutional convention limited to proposing a federal balanced budget amendment.

• Establishes a balanced budget amendment requiring total federal outlays not exceed total receipts, with authorized debt initially capped at 105% of outstanding debt on the amendment's effective date and increases requiring approval by a simple majority of state legislatures.

• Requires a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress to approve new or increased federal income taxes, with exceptions for replacement sales taxes or reduction of tax exemptions.

• Creates a Compact Commission with one member per state, empowers it to oversee convention logistics and enforce compact terms, and designates the state governor on the enactment date as each state's sole convention delegate with authority limited to adopting convention rules and voting on the balanced budget amendment only.

• Convention must occur in Dallas, Texas on the sixth Wednesday after Article V takes effect, operate under modified Robert's Rules of Order, and automatically adjourn within 24 hours; compact terminates seven years after first enactment if the amendment is not ratified.