Gov. Greg Abbott says he’ll make Texas government more efficient by creating the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office. (Photo by Matt Hennie)
Rallying against an “administrative state” in a state he’s led for 10 years, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill that seeks to recalibrate state government and slash regulations by, ironically, creating a new Texas agency.
His motivation? Texas billionaire Elon Musk, who has led the chaotic efforts of the Trump administration to dramatically downsize the federal government. Musk dubbed it the Department of Government Efficiency. Abbott called his the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office.
“ What DOGE did, however, was to crystallize exactly what we were seeking to achieve. It gave definition to it,” Abbott said Wednesday as he signed Senate Bill 14 into law. It was the first bill signing of the legislative session, and one of the earliest of any session since he became governor in 2015.
Abbott said the Texas version of DOGE, housed in the governor’s office, will make state government less costly and more efficient. But it will cost $7.6 million in its first two years and require hiring 18 employees, according to a legislative budget analysis.
@couriertexas Gov. Greg Abbott says he’ll make Texas government more efficient by … creating more of it.
