(The Center Square) – In 2006, Florida voters amended the state’s constitution to create a Government Efficiency Task Force.
The 15-member group, chaired by the governor, includes the speaker of the House and other state leaders, and convenes every four years. It has recommended changes that would potentially save taxpayers billions of dollars.
A taxpayers group, Florida TaxWatch, this week called for a new state law, the Florida Government Efficiency Act that would require the governor to include efficiency and cost-reduction recommendations each year in the annual budget recommendation.
“Florida TaxWatch firmly believes that, if government efficiency is important enough to the taxpayers to be enshrined in our state constitution, then it should be important enough to the Legislature to be enshrined in Florida statutes,” Jeff Kottkamp, the group’s vice president and general counsel said in a statement.
Florida TaxWatch included the assessment in a report, Government Efficiency Is Not Something We Should Do Every Four Years.
It outlines the history of the constitutional amendment and some of the cost-savings that the Government Efficiency Task Force has recommended over the years.
It also praises second-term Republican Gov. Ron Desantis’ recent executive order creating Department of Government Efficiency teams within state agencies, mirroring a similar effort in the federal government.
“Florida has proven ideas, demonstrated wins, and active tools; now it needs permanence,” TaxWatch said in a statement. “By embedding efficiency into the annual budget cycle – backed by transparent tracking and regular reporting – the state can convert sporadic initiatives into sustained savings and better service delivery for taxpayers.”
The group notes, however, that recommendations issued every four years by the state’s Government Efficiency Tax Force have not always been followed.
Successes that led to documented savings include streamlining of business permits and an overhaul of the state’s internet technology.
“In total, 172 proposals have been identified across task force terms with estimated savings of $15.14 billion, but recent cycles have shown diminished scope and public tracking,” TaxWatch said.
The Florida Government Efficiency Act has the potential to be more effective, TaxWatch said.
It would require the Legislature to consider the governor’s efficiency recommendations each year as part of the budget process, “creating ongoing accountability rather than four-year burst,” Florida TaxWatch said.
