Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday signed the primary legislation of this yr’s legislative session, a invoice creating a brand new regulation-cutting company impressed by Elon Musk’s federal Division of Authorities Effectivity.
“Texas can have our personal DOGE,” Abbott mentioned Wednesday. “What this legislation goes to do is make authorities extra environment friendly and more cost effective.”
Senate Invoice 14, which handed each the Home and Senate with bipartisan supermajorities, establishes the “Texas Regulatory Effectivity Workplace” at a price of $22.8 million over the following 5 years.
Abbott signed the invoice with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Home Speaker Dustin Burrows and the invoice’s sponsors — Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, and Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford — by his facet.
“The less laws we have now, the extra environment friendly they’re, the simpler they’re to know — goes to assist Texas enterprise and economic system proceed to growth, which is why I’m excited that is the primary invoice that’s being signed,” Burrows mentioned.
With 5 weeks left within the biennial legislative session, SB 14 is the primary invoice to succeed in Abbott’s desk. The Senate and Home have every handed different precedence measures — together with a college voucher program that Patrick placed on a glide path final week when he endorsed the Home’s proposal — however some, just like the finances, differ barely throughout chambers and nonetheless require closing approval earlier than they will go to the governor.
The “Huge Three” — Abbott, Patrick and Burrows — all touted the invoice signing as one of many earliest in current periods, which have been slowed down partly by bitter relationships between the governor’s workplace, Patrick and former Home Speaker Dade Phelan.
Patrick known as the early invoice signing “the primary proof of effectivity.”
The “Texas Regulatory Effectivity Workplace” will probably be charged with serving to different state companies establish “pointless and ineffective guidelines.” It can additionally advise companies on methods to make laws more practical, streamline the regulatory course of, scale back division prices and enhance public entry to regulatory data.
The governor will probably be liable for appointing members of the panel, which will probably be supported by as much as 18 full-time employees members.
The brand new legislation additionally states that courts in Texas usually are not required to defer to a state company’s interpretation of the legislation in authorized challenges of laws. It follows the U.S. Supreme Courtroom’s overturning of the Chevron doctrine, which for 40 years required the court docket to observe authorities companies’ dedication of the legislation when statutes have been ambiguous, so long as it was affordable. The doctrine was a major goal for these trying to roll again the facility of federal companies.
SB 14, which was designated a precedence invoice within the Senate, is a part of a broader push by Republican elected officers to proceed to make Texas extra enticing to companies and companies. In 2023, the Legislature created a specialised enterprise court docket, and lawmakers this session wish to cross tighter restrictions on lawsuits.
Some Democrats in opposition to the invoice questioned why the brand new company was crucial on high of the state’s Sundown Advisory Fee, which already frequently assesses the continued existence and efficiency of state companies and laws.
Republicans who opposed the measure, together with Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, known as the invoice an enlargement of presidency.
“The purpose of DOGE is to chop authorities, scale back spending and shrink the forms,” Harrison mentioned on the Home ground. “Sadly, this invoice does the precise reverse.”
Different states have additionally established teams impressed by DOGE, together with Kentucky, Iowa, Oklahoma, New Hampshire and Louisiana.
The Texas Home created its personal Supply of Authorities Effectivity committee this session with the purpose of eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in authorities.
Throughout the bipartisan committee’s first listening to in March, Capriglione, the panel’s chair, mentioned: “At occasions, we’ll use a scalpel, rigorously dissecting inefficiencies to make authorities work smarter. At different occasions, we’ll wield a sledgehammer, tearing down systemic waste and corruption that will have gone unchallenged.”
This text initially appeared in The Texas Tribune, a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and interesting Texans on state politics and coverage.
