Senate will vote on two versions of balanced-budget amendment

The Senate in the coming weeks will take up two versions of the balanced-budget amendment, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday.

One version will be a GOP version chosen by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the other will be one authored by Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Reid said.

{mosads}Under the terms of the August debt-ceiling deal, the Senate must vote on a balanced-budget amendment (BBA) to the Constitution by the end of this year.

Both versions of the BBA are expected to fail. Two-thirds of the Senate would be required to pass the amendment. From there it would have to pass the House then go to the states for ratification. The House this month failed to pass a BBA that Republicans watered down to appeal to Democrats.

Reid said the debate on the amendments will be “limited.”

A Senate GOP aide said that McConnell favors S.J. Res 10, which is backed by all 47 Republicans in the body. That version requires a balanced budget and also imposes a two-thirds supermajority requirement to raise taxes and a spending limit of 18 percent of gross domestic product. Conservatives favor this version of the BBA because they worry that the requirement to balance the budget could lead to a massive tax increase.

Udall’s bill, S.J Res 24, is co-sponsored by five Democrats: Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

Udall’s version requires that the federal budget be balanced each year unless three-fifths of each House votes to waive the requirement. It would create a Social Security “lockbox “ to protect it from any balanced-budget requirement and would prohibit tax breaks for millionaires unless there are budget surpluses.

Udall is in the process of rounding up more Democratic support for the bill.

“Neither is likely to pass or garner much support from the other side,” Andrew Moylan of the National Taxpayers Union said.