Among Florida DOGE tasks: Use AI to cut unnecessary spending. 11 things to know

Yahoo

25-02-2025

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday, Feb. 24, the creation of a Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) task force.
"Florida was DOGE before DOGE was cool," a graphic posted by the governor on X, formerly known as Twitter, said.
"Florida has set the standard for fiscally conservative governance, and we will work with our new DOGE task force to do even more to serve the people of Florida with responsible stewardship of tax dollars," DeSantis said.
➤ Gov. DeSantis establishes Florida version of DOGE, will cut positions, audit universities
'I'm excited about this effort to take some of what we've seen in Washington that they're doing with Elon Musk and apply it to Florida,' DeSantis said at a press conference in Tampa on Monday.
The Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency Task Force will "work to further eliminate waste with state government, save taxpayers money and ensure accountability in Florida," DeSantis said.
The governor said over the next year, the state will attempt to sunset 70 state boards and commissions, cut 900 positions, require universities to undergo independent reviews and audits, and look into local government expenditures.
Among actions the task force will take are:
Colleges and Universities: Florida will conduct a deep dive into all facets of college and university operations and spending, and make recommendations to the Board of Governors and State Board of Education to eliminate any wasteful spending.
DeSantis said the state would conduct a deep dive of university operations and spending, including debt and financial management practices. It will also include examining course catalogs and staff to 'ensure that Florida students are receiving an education that will best equip them to gain meaningful employment after graduation.'
State agencies: Florida will utilize AI to supplement our ongoing efforts to review operations at our state agencies and identify more ways to cut unnecessary spending and eliminate bureaucracy.
"In particular, I am requiring state agencies to utilize AI as a way to supplement our ongoing efforts to produce streamlined and cost-effective government. Federal DOGE efforts have demonstrated the power of cutting edge technology, and I look forward to Florida's DOGE task force doing even more for taxpayers," DeSantis posted on X.
Unused federal dollars: Florida will aid DOGE's federal efforts to save taxpayers' money by returning unused or surplus federal dollars allocated to the state.
Local governments: Our state task force will look into local government expenditures by utilizing publicly available county and municipal spending records to expose bloat with local governance.
Eliminating bureaucracy: Florida will abolish an additional 70 boards and commissions this year.
'Ron DeSantis needs to shut his d--- mouth,' said Nikki Fried, chairperson of the Florida Democratic Party.
'Republicans have been in total control of Florida's government for nearly 30 years, and he wants to talk about government waste?
'Ron has consistently passed the largest state budgets in Florida's history, illegally spent millions of taxpayer dollars to run political campaigns to take down Amendments 3 & 4 and just allocated $250 million to fund his political stunt on immigration. Don't lecture us on wasting taxpayer dollars.
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'We all know this isn't about reigning in spending — it's about Trump endorsing Byron Donalds instead of Casey DeSantis. Maybe Ron should have considered the political consequences before he decided to run against the leader of his party for president.'
Among the requirements outlined in the governor's executive order were:
Recommend legislative reforms to promote efficiency, maximize productivity, and eliminate waste in state and local government.
Recommendations will be made to the governor, chief financial officer, president of the Senate and speaker of the House no later than Sept. 30.
Each state agency shall establish a DOGE team that shall be responsible for utilizing advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence, as part of ongoing efforts to identify and eliminate unnecessary spending, programs, or contracts within the agency.
Each agency DOGE team shall report its progress to the governor's DOGE team on a monthly basis.
The executive order became effective immediately and will expire March 31, 2026.
Florida has had a Government Efficiency Task Force since 2007, after voters approved an amendment to the Florida Constitution in 2006.
The agency is required to meet every four years "for the purpose of developing recommendations to improve governmental operations and reduce costs."
The task force is made up 15 members, with five each appointed by DeSantis, the Senate president and the House speaker.
The next meeting of the group is set for Feb. 26.
According to its website, it met twice in 2024, four times in 2020, and once in 2019. In addition, two subcommittees — Government Operations and Tech & Innovation — were scheduled to meet in 2019.
Contributing: Ana Goñi-Lessan, USA Today Network-Florida
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida DOGE created by Gov. Ron DeSantis. 11 things to know