Florida governor to speak in Idaho Falls to garner support for Idaho to call for constitutional convention
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IDAHO FALLS — With the national debt exceeding $40 trillion, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will visit in Idaho Falls to build support for a constitutional convention to propose a balanced budget amendment.
EastIdahoNews.com spoke with Mike Colson, chairman of the Bonneville County Republican Central Committee, and Loren Enns, president of Balanced Budget Now, who are organizing the event with DeSantis.
Balanced Budget Now is a nonprofit that has campaigned for a balanced budget since the early 2010s, with Enns leading the organization since the beginning.
Learning from former U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a balanced-budget advocate, that former President Ronald Regan had previously gathered 32 of the 34 states required for a convention, but after Regan left office, support begn to dwindle. Enns said only 11 states that had standing calls for a convention when he started.
“I mean, I thought I was starting from zero,” Enns said. “When Ronald Reagan spots you 11 states, you grab the ball, and you run.”
Enns said while the goal is to get as many states as possible to join the call for a constitutional convention, his goal is to get 33 out of 34 states. The reason for this is that in years past, when the states get close to the 34 state requirement to call a constitutional convention, Congress has stepped in and addressed the issues states were concerned about.
While only officially involved with the nonprofit for two years, Colson said that the federal budget has been one of DeSantis’s main issues.
“He’ll be meeting with some state legislators … meeting with some members of the public and really sharing the message of how important it is that we get our debt under control,” Colson said.
According to the Idaho Capital Sun, this will also be the Florida governor’s third visit to Idaho, including last year’s visit with Idaho Gov. Brad Little and Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke. He also visited Idaho in 2024.
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Previous attempts in Idaho’s Legislature to pass a call for a constitutional convention failed until February, when Idaho’s House passed House Concurrent Resolution 25 by a 36-34 vote, the Idaho Capital Sun reported.
RELATED | Idaho Senate committee rejects call to amend US Constitution through convention
The resolution was sent to the Idaho Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee, where it never received a hearing.
“We plan on bringing that back, and so the governor is going to be drumming up some support to get that over the finish line,” Colson said.
While there is local support for approving a resolution to call a constitutional convention, the Idaho Republican Party has opposed such a measure, calling it an unpredictable proceeding, according to the Idaho Capital Sun.
Colson acknowledges the concerns that have been raised. He said many of those fears are unfounded because the process for proposing an amendment requires the agreement of two-thirds of states.
“Anything that comes in a proposed convention is going to have to make sense to both sides of the aisle,” Colson said. “We have to do something to fix this and address this.”
For those who are interested in attending, you can buy tickets at the link here or by visiting the Bonneville County Central Committee’s website.
The event itself will be hosted at the Westbank Convention Center, 525 River Parkway and will start at 5:45 p.m.