a balanced-budget amendment is a constitutional rule requiring that the state cannot spend more than its income. it requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government. balanced-budget provisions have been added to the constitutions of most u.s. states, the basic law of germany, the hong kong basic law, spain, italy and the swiss constitution. it is often proposed that a balanced-budget rule be added to the national united states constitution. most balanced-budget provisions make an exception for times of war, national emergency, or recession, or allow the legislature to suspend the rule by a supermajority vote. ==europe== ===austria=== in november 2011 the austrian coalition government agreed to amend its constitution and introduce a german style schuldenbremse ("debt brake"). this will force the government to reduce its debt level to 60% of gross domestic product (gdp) by 2020. ===germany=== in 2009 germany's constitution was amended to introduce the schuldenbremse ("debt brake"), a balanced budget provision. this will apply to both the federal government and the lÃ¤nder (states). from 2016 onwards the federal government will be forbidden to run a structural deficit of more than 0.35% of gdp. from 2020, the states will not be permitted to run any structural deficit at all. the basic law pe
Fiscal_policy Proposed_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution United_States_federal_budgets