Ellis passes SCR 1; says Congress should balance budget or lose pay

The Oklahoma State Senate has given approval to a concurrent resolution calling on Congress to enact a balanced budget or see their pay reduced. Sen. Jerry Ellis, D-Valliant, is author of SCR 1 urging citizens to demand Congress to enact a balanced federal budget beginning in fiscal year 2013.

“Our national debt is at historically high levels and the people of Oklahoma know their children and grandchildren are going to pay the price. Congress has been great at pointing fingers and playing the blame game, but they haven’t done anything to fix this problem,” Ellis said. “They should have some skin in the game, so I recommend that every year they fail to balance the budget they should lose five percent of their salary.”

Ellis pointed out that Oklahoma, along with most other states, has a balanced budget amendment which the state has managed to obey despite revenue shortfalls and ever-increasing demands for public services.

“We’ve faced economic ups and downs and yet we’ve always found a way to balance our budget. We’ve slashed spending, found ways to raise revenue and the two political parties have found ways to compromise to get those things done,” Ellis said. “We should expect and demand no less of our elected officials at the federal level."