Gov. Abbott signs bill creating a Texas regulation-cutting agency inspired by Elon's DOGE
Love it or hate it, "DOGE" has become a new word in the political dictionary this year as President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, implemented by Elon Musk, seeks to slash federal government spending.
Now, Texas has its own version of DOGE. Gov. Greg Abbott signed the first bill of the legislative session at the Capitol on Wednesday. He said that while and lawmakers want to make the government more efficient and less costly, the primary focus will be on reducing regulations on Texas businesses.
"There's so much slicing and dicing that can and needs to be done," said Abbott. "So we will look to accelerate the process to make sure we start slashing away to make government more efficient as quickly as possible."
Two North Texas lawmakers, Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, and Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, led the efforts in their respective chambers to pass the bill. The legislation won bipartisan support in each chamber. While Texas has won numerous awards for being the best state to conduct business, Abbott said there has been growing concern by CEO's about the regulatory environment in the Lone Star State.
"I was shocked to learn that a study came out that showed that Texas had the fifth highest regulatory burden of any state in the U.S.," said Abbott. "Completely unacceptable."
The governor said this has been in the works even before the Trump administration created DOGE.
