New legislative task force will gather agency data to seek efficiency gains, chair says

Representative Nathan Toman, chair of the Legislative Task Force on Government Efficiency, told members of the Leadership Division he intends the task force to work with agencies and stakeholders to identify operational inefficiencies and opportunities for statutory reforms.

“We're not trying to be the bad guy,” Toman said. “We want to partner with you to create the most efficient program, most efficient agency.”

Toman said the panel has begun meetings with some members and agency officials and will request program-level data, cost bases, cost-benefit information and information on vendor and regulated-industry pain points. He said the task force will look for both near-term savings and longer-term reforms that preserve or increase program benefits while improving efficiency.

Representative Dobrevich asked whether the task force will consider qualitative returns on investment, not just dollar reductions. Toman replied that his roadmap includes cost-benefit and program-effectiveness measures: “The cost, the benefit per dollar spent is the greatest that it can be,” he said.

Toman said the task force will seek independent audits and program-evaluation support if needed, and that he expects Legislative Council program-evaluation staff to help. He said the task force has no dedicated budget yet but could contract for outside expertise if required.

The task force will focus first on large programs such as Medicaid (Department of Human Services) and then on areas with statutory or regulatory change potential. Toman said he will publish updates through legislative management email and that preliminary memoranda and a final report will be provided to the legislature.

No formal committee action was taken on the task force report during this meeting; members asked for periodic updates and for the task force to coordinate with Legislative Council program-evaluation work.