Ron DeSantis implores Idaho to back his call for a balanced federal budget

Gov. Ron DeSantis is about as far away as possible from the back-and-forth of Florida’s Legislative Session, imploring lawmakers in the Rocky Mountains to make moves instead.

But those moves, he says, are in the national interest.

Thursday finds the soon-to-be term limited Republican returning to Idaho to again call for a federal Balanced Budget Amendment, part of the Balanced Budget Campaign supported by all Republican Governors.

After spending the day meeting with legislators on the issue, the Governor was flanked by Idaho Senate President Pro Tempore Kelly Anthon and House Majority Leader Jason Monks as he argued that the heavily Republican state should push for fiscal restraint in the nation’s capital.

“You’re not going to see this turn around unless you have constitutional constraints on Congress,” DeSantis said, arguing that the states have the power to rein in the “federal apparatus” and drive reform, including by working to certify and propose amendments.

If Idaho passes a resolution in favor, it will be the 28th state pushing for a constitutional convention on the matter. Thirty-four states would need to certify their will, while it would take 38 to change the Constitution.

But DeSantis believes Congress would act if the states reached critical mass, drawing on history where convention calls led to congressional action.

Time is of the essence, DeSantis said, describing America’s fiscal situation as an “emergency,” saying the country “can’t keep adding debt at this level, especially given how much it costs to service the debt.”

“We spend more to pay interest on our existing debt than we do for our entire United States military, the core function of the federal government,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said the issue has been building all century through Republican and Democratic rule, creating a “debt crisis” that necessitates action,

“Fifteen years ago, when our debt was 16 trillion, a lot of us were alarmed then,” he said.

“If I told you that we’d be at 38 trillion, 15 years later, you’d be like, there’s no way. If you said, hey, it’s going to be 2 trillion annually added to the debt, with kind of no end in sight, you would have said there’s no way. You just can’t do that. You’re going to end up having some type of a debt crisis.”

Asked about the potential of a runaway convention, DeSantis said there was “zero chance” since the convention could only propose amendments, adding that ratification requires three-quarters of the states to be on board. He also said that in Florida, penalties apply to delegates who go rogue.

DeSantis said he was back in Idaho because it was “close” last year and he believes he can help with the final push.