Editorial: Legislature moves to make state-level DOGE changes. Don’t copy federal mistakes

As in many red states, Texas officials want to support, and replicate, Donald Trump’s policies. So it should surprise no one that our legislature is working to create a state version of one of the highlights of the president’s administration.

The Senate last week passed Senate Bill 14 that would work to improve state government efficiency, which is the stated goal of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency that has shuttered dozens of federal offices and fired thousands of government employees.

SB14 also creates the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office to identify and remove unnecessary or ineffective regulations.

“Texans understand that by cutting red tape, more money stays in the pockets of taxpayers,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a statement celebrating the bill’s passage.

While many people have howled about office closures and the loss of certain functions and services, DOGE receives as much support as opposition in public opinion polls. Even when they complain about the ham-handed way the effort has been handled — it has drawn swarms of protests, lawsuits and court injunctions — many Americans agree that our government bureaucracy is too big, bloated and expensive for taxpayers to sustain.

Thus, efforts to similarly pare down the size and scope of state government also are getting their share of support.

To be sure, there’s nothing wrong with seeking to make our government more efficient and less intrusive. Any effort to reduce the government’s reach into our lives, and into taxpayers’ pocketbooks, is welcome.

State officials, however, should learn from the Trump administration’s mistakes in order to better avoid unnecessary confusion, administrative chaos and costly litigation.

For starters, officials should remember that like our federal government, Texas has a representative form of government, with most legal decisions made by the legislature or, in some cases, the courts. Thus, if the legislature enacted policies and created offices and functions, then only the legislature must rescind and terminate them.

Moreover, staff reductions must be handled correctly; the state can’t summarily fire everyone it wants. Collective bargaining agreements are legally binding contracts and must be respected. People can’t be fired, and agreements terminated, without the requisite negotiations and agreements.

Texans surely would welcome a hard look at the obvious need for regulatory reform. State officials need to make that reform comprehensive in order to benefit the business community, but also to ease unnecessary and unreasonable burdens on Texas residents and taxpayers.

Some regulations clearly are designed to benefit businesses at the expense of the public. Many rules, particularly with regard to licensing and certification, seem intended to protect existing companies from upstart competition. This deprives the public of the options, innovation and price benefits that competition can provide.

Efforts to make our government less costly, cumbersome and intrusive are a great idea. State officials should do so with the primary goal of improving efficiency while reducing unneeded burdens on the people they were elected to serve.

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