Red states are implementing their own programs to reduce the size and expense of the federal government, mirroring President Donald Trump’s efforts to do so.
Trump established a temporary commission he named the Department of Government Efficiency through an executive order he signed in the first hours of his second term. In November, he initially revealed DOGE, a cryptocurrency and popular meme-inspired initiative spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk to identify billions in federal cuts.
To discover methods to reduce state expenditure, Republican governors and lawmakers have formed their own government efficiency task forces and committees in recent weeks.
Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick stated that a DOGE measure would be one of his top legislative objectives. The Texas House of Representatives recently announced plans for a 13-member Delivery of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, committee that will look for inefficiencies in state agencies. Similar initiatives have recently been proposed by GOP officials in Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.
Reducing the size and expense of government has long been a goal of conservatives. In order to assist cut down on waste or inefficiencies in state, local, and school administrations, leaders from both parties frequently use outside consultants. However, as Republicans want to align themselves with Trump and both blue and red states confront enormous budget deficits that will necessitate a combination of tax increases and spending cuts, the DOGE initiative is gathering new momentum.
However, Democrats contend that the initiatives may be unnecessary because many states already have efficiency panels and government watchdogs. Additionally, Democratic governors have improved governmental efficiency and reduced red tape.
Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds highlighted recent initiatives to centralize services, streamline state agencies, and cut regulations in her January Condition of the State speech, claiming that these measures had already saved Iowans $217 million. The state’s 37 executive-level Cabinet departments were reduced to 16 by legislation approved by the governor in 2023, which also altered some of the governor’s and attorney general’s authority.
Reynolds stated, “We were doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing.”
However, during her speech, Reynolds announced the creation of a state DOGE advisory committee, which will be headed by Reynolds campaign donor and well-known businesswoman Emily Schmitt. Reynolds stated that Iowa needs to find more ways to cut costs in state and municipal government in order to enact significant property tax reform.
Iowa Democrats pointed out that the state auditor, Rob Sand, the only Democrat elected to a statewide position, is already required by the state constitution to serve as a watchdog on the government.
Reynolds approved a measure in 2023 that prohibited his office from suing state entities and restricted the auditor’s access to specific information.
The most pro-corruption bill and the worst perversion of checks and balances in Iowa history, according to Sand, who is said to be a possible gubernatorial candidate.
Democratic state representative Adam Zabner stated, “We have someone who has an entire office whose job it is to work on this.” I believe that the state auditor, who was chosen by Iowans to fill the position, is a better source of efficiency than a significant backer of the governor’s campaign.
Every two years, Zabner is a member of the legislature’s long-standing government efficiency assessment committee, which looks at how the state government is run.
Given that the state had hundreds of open positions prior to Reynolds’ restructuring, Zabner said it’s difficult to determine how much actual savings were achieved. He said that the provision of state services hasn’t necessarily improved as a result of those decreases.
He remarked, “We still struggle to get all of our nursing homes inspected.” Additionally, the delivery of many services like that hasn’t really changed.
Blue-state governors have also taken action to improve the responsiveness and efficiency of state government, according to the Democratic Governors Association. Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, took unilateral action in November to expedite state permits for projects aimed at economic development. In an effort to make state government more effective and responsive to taxpayers, Colorado Governor Jared Polis in December used a table saw to cut through a stack of old executive orders on energy efficiency and dormant state committees.
Polis spokesperson Shelby Wieman noted in a statement that this isn’t a glitzy trend for Polis; rather, it’s something he has done while in office.
It’s unknown how much could be saved nationwide in attempts to eliminate waste or inefficiencies that are wholly subjective.
According to William Glasgall, public finance adviser at the Volcker Alliance, a nonprofit organization that supports public sector employees, one person’s idea of waste is another person’s essential service.
According to Glasgall, government services are not built to be as effective as those of for-profit businesses.
While many businesses operate numerous factory shifts daily in order to maximize their capital investment, government offices and schools with various purposes typically remain idle on weekends, during breaks, and overnight. In a similar vein, even if their personnel and apparatus are idle for extended periods, cities must prepare their police and fire departments for emergencies.
However, governments have several line items that are worth examining, Glasgall added.
A critical service to one individual may be considered garbage to another.
William Glasgall, Volcker Alliance public finance adviser
He cited the various tax exemptions, incentives, and breaks that states provide to both individuals and corporations. The Volcker Alliance calculated in a study last year that these programs cut state income by $1 trillion year, which is nearly three times the amount that local and state governments will spend on education in 2021.
According to Glasgall, state audits and budget agencies frequently do not examine such lost income or make them clear to taxpayers.
States considering reductions do so from a comparatively strong position: Federal epidemic assistance and a thriving economy drove up state spending and reserve funds.
According to Glasgall, states are starting from a very high place. Therefore, I doubt that the cuts they are making will cause excruciating agony at this time.
Republican state representative Amanda Nedweski of Wisconsin stated that the state should continuously examine its spending and operations. However, she stated that the legislature frequently depends on agencies to keep an eye on itself.
She claimed that there is frequently redundancy in roles and functions and that state government is sort of run in silos.
Nedweski is in charge of the newly formed GOAT (Government Operations, Accountability, and Transparency) committee in the state assembly.
According to Nedweski, the committee will examine state government from a broad perspective, but it is also ready to go deeply into topics like regulation reform, the utilization of state office space, and how Wisconsin may employ technology like artificial intelligence to boost productivity.
On financial objectives and programs, Democratic Governor Tony Evers is likely to face opposition from the GOP-controlled legislature. However, according to Nedweski, the new committee can make significant recommendations that don’t always call for cutting back on state services.
In order to use our resources more effectively and efficiently, she stated that there are numerous items that can be reviewed and expenditures that can be moved without being eliminated.
The American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group known as ALEC that works with lawmakers nationwide, is pushing similar efforts in statehouses across the country.
That group sees analyzing the costs and efficacy of current programs as a logical first step, even though its ultimate goal is to reduce governments.
One of the things we keep going back to is just the review of current government spending, said Jonathan Williams, ALEC s president and chief economist. In many instances, efforts to find these efficiencies do not regularly conduct performance audits.
The group recently established a government efficiency coalition to provide state legislators with best practices for maximizing government at all levels.
From our ALEC perspective, we hope that Washington [D.C.] does less going forward, he said, and the states and local governments probably need to do more in some cases.
As revenues flatten or drop, many states will have to make difficult expenditure decisions.
So, it s going to be important to really tighten the belt, right-size government programs, and look for ways to provide those core government services more efficiently so we re able to deliver real services to those truly at need, Williams said. And that, I think, is something that really plays into really a red-state or a blue-state outlook.
But making governments more efficient can be a battle of inches.
Last week, the newly formed Kansas SenateCommittee on Government Efficiencyconsidereda billthat would nix requirements for certain state filings regarding labor organizations, tax abatements and water easements.
Clay Barker, general counsel for Kansas Republican secretary of state, told the committee that many of those documents are filed with other state offices and do little aside from creating work for the office.
If passed, the legislation is expected to save 400 hours of one-time IT labor and an ongoing 50 hours of labor annually, Barker said. But officials hope it will encourage other agencies to examine their operations for inefficiencies.
This bill will not revolutionize state government, he said.
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