DeSantis implores Florida Legislature to back term limits for Congress, balanced federal budget

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Sounding like he’s still running for president, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday he would push the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature to certify a slate of amendments to the U.S. Constitution that include congressional term limits and requiring a balanced budget.

Banking on the idea that such reforms are popular and nonpartisan, DeSantis said Florida should be a leader in getting other states to push for a constitutional convention, an idea that has been discussed before but never achieved.

“One thing Florida has always taken the lead on … is holding Washington accountable,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Naples that seemed more like a campaign event, with crowds cheering his entrance and throughout much of his speech. “We are going to work with other states to rein in this ruling class in Washington.”

Some experts warn that could lead to radical revisions to the nation’s blueprint document.

“There is a lot of mischief that could be done,” said Bob Jarvis, a constitutional law professor at the Shepard Broad College of Law at NOVA Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale.

But Jarvis said he sees Monday’s announcement as something DeSantis’ advisers came up with to keep grabbing headlines to stay viable and in the public eye until 2028.

“He’s still running for president, just changed the timeline from 2024 to 2028,” Jarvis said. “It’s easy for DeSantis to say this and capture the news cycle for 24 hours and then move on to something else.”

The chances of actually getting something done are slim, Jarvis said. Article V of the Constitution provides two ways to pass amendments — by a congressional act or by constitutional convention.

Every constitutional amendment has been done by Congress, which requires a two-thirds vote to send to the states, and three-fourths of the states to ratify. The most recent modern-day amendment, the 26th, giving 18-year-olds the right to vote, was ratified in 1971. The 27th, first proposed in 1789 to delay congressional pay raises, wasn’t ratified until 1992.

The last constitutional convention was held in 1787 to get rid of the Articles of Confederation.

“Since then, nobody’s ever had one and nobody knows what they look like,” Jarvis said. “We are writing on a completely blank slate.”

It would take two-thirds of the states, or 34, to agree to a constitutional convention, and 38 states to ratify any amendments, he said.

“It’s never going to happen because it never has happened,” Jarvis said. “It has never been taken seriously and Congress has never taken it up.”

The Florida House has already approved along party lines two of the amendments DeSantis named — term limits and a balanced budget. Two Senate committees passed similar resolutions along party lines, but they have not gone before the full senate yet.

“In Florida, we’ve proven that a balanced budget amendment and term limits work. That’s why we’ve passed resolutions urging Congress to enact them on the federal level,” House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, said.

Renner said the legislature will pass resolutions supporting the governor’s two other goals — prohibiting Congress from excluding its members from any laws it passes and giving the president line-item veto authority on the federal budget.

“This movement the governor outlined is about ensuring that the spirit of America is reflected not just in our past glories but in our present activities and in the future we’re all building for our children,” said Tarren Bragdon, CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability, a conservative group that has helped shape many of the state’s recent policies.

Such reforms have been launched before, but DeSantis said he believes there is new momentum

“I’m hoping that … we will be able to work with other states to be able to get a critical mass here,” DeSantis said. “I don’t think there’s anything we’re proposing that many people would oppose. These are broadly appealing reforms.”

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