Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visits Helena to push for balanced federal budget

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Helena on Monday to advocate alongside Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte for a balanced federal budget. Earlier the same day, DeSantis brought the same message to Idaho’s Capitol in Boise. 

DeSantis and Gianforte spoke to a group of more than 70 people, including Montana legislators. During the joint hour-long address, DeSantis talked about the significance of states’ fiscal responsibility.

“Take us, we have a requirement to balance the budget. I think Montana does too,” DeSantis said. “Most states do.”

The two governors pushed for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would block Congress from spending more than it took in through revenue each year. Republicans control both chambers of Congress in Washington, D.C., as well as the presidency.

“While every business, school district, city or family must balance their budgets, sadly, the U.S. government doesn’t have to do the same,” Gianforte said.

In 2024, the United States ran a roughly $1.8 trillion deficit. That sum added to the more than $36 trillion national debt. 

“We know we’re going to have a big problem if we continue going in the direction that we’re going,” DeSantis said. 

During the 2023 session, Montana lawmakers debated bills asking Congress to rein in national spending, though no bill passed. Similar policies have been put forward during the 2025 session, though each has either died or been tabled. 

“It’s not over till it’s over,” said Gianforte in response to a question about his plans to advocate for legislation this session aimed at asking Congress to balance the national budget. “There’s still a lot of bill titles in play, close to around a thousand, so there’s still time to get stuff done. It’s not done until they sine die [adjourn the session] and go home.”

According to Patrick Barkey, director of research at the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Research, the statewide implications of a balanced federal budget are difficult to predict. 

“There’re any number of things that the federal government does that move the needle in the Montana economy,” Barkey said. “That’s everything from missile improvement projects to VA hospital expansions to Forest Service headquarters.”

Barkey pointed out that Montana receives more in federal dollars than it sends to the nation’s Capitol, but also that small cuts today could prevent larger slashes tomorrow.

“A balanced budget that maybe trims some of the spending in Montana — and hurts some of the communities in Montana that depend on federal spending as part of their economic base — could be a better outcome than a ‘no change’ federal spending plan that ultimately proves to be a train wreck for the federal budget,” Barkey said.

Ultimately, Barkey highlighted that economic analysis is difficult without knowing details about how policymakers plan to balance the budget.

“All I know is that the numbers are big and the changes have to be meaningful, or it’s all going to be a bunch of window dressing, which, of course, is what it’s always been whenever we have this conversation. Nothing really happens,” Barkey said. 

But in Montana’s Capitol, DeSantis and Gianforte spoke with renewed optimism about the idea’s potential. 

“We can get all the policy right in Florida, you get all the policy right in Montana. Obviously, we’ve had people that have moved here. They’ve left states that were poorly governed to come here — they’re staying in Florida — that’s great,” DeSantis said. “But ultimately, our country is so fiscally insolvent that we have some major crisis that could upend everything.”