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Title: Lutherans Oppose Budget Amendment ELCA NEWS SERVICE - NEWSBRIEF March 12, 1997 LUTHERANS OPPOSE BUDGET AMENDMENT The Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), Washington, D.C., and the Association of Lutheran Social Ministry Organizations (ALSMO), St. Paul, Minn., joined their voices in opposition to a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution requiring a balanced budget. The measure failed March 4 to receive the necessary two-thirds of the votes in the U.S. Senate. Kay S. Dowhower, director for LOGA, and Joanne Negstad, ALSMO's executive director, sent letters Feb. 5 asking key members of Congress to oppose the amendment. They called the balanced budget amendment a "requirement that allows for little flexibility under difficult circumstances." Dowhower and Negstad said it would "make it easier for Congress to cut funding than to raise revenues" in times of a natural disaster or economic downturn. Using recent efforts to reduce the federal budget as examples, they said "the programs serving low-income people" would be the easiest for Congress to prune. On Jan. 31 the ALSMO board passed a resolution similar to one adopted in 1992 by the Division for Church in Society of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to back a balanced budget that gives priority to human needs. LOGA is the federal public policy advocacy office of the ELCA. ALSMO represents about 280 organizations that provide human services in all 50 states. For information contact: Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html