Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R - Lubbock, created a new organization inspired by billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, the Committee on "Delivery of Government Efficiency" or "DOGE." North Texans pack the committee.
The expensive, sprawling state government will now have thirteen new members of the committee aiming to make it more efficient. Southlake Republican Giovanni Capriglione will chair the committee along with Euless Democrat Salman Bhojani as Vice Chair.
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WATCH HERECapriglione spoke with NBC 5 Thursday afternoon. He said they'll look for waste, fraud, and abuse but also focus on making the government easier to use.
“Using technology for instance, whether it’s artificial intelligence or just modernizing our systems, that we can go and improve the user experience. The user being the constituents, right," said Capriglione.
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SIGN UP The idea originally was inspired by the Department of Government Efficiency created by President Donald Trump and led by billionaire Elon Musk. That group in Washington D.C. controversially has gained access to payment systems in the Federal government. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed to determine if their actions are legal.
Capriglione says their focus will be in the realm of oversight and pushing for new laws to make Texas more transparent and efficient.
Some early ideas, according to the chair, are creating a digital driver's license allowing updates without going into the DMV. He also predicts efforts to expand Texas public information, open government, and open meeting laws to see how tax dollars are being spent on contracts. New and easier-to-use websites may also be in the future.
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“All of us know how painful it is to be in line or on the phone, waiting for help from the government, well maybe there’s ways to make it faster and easier and maybe cheaper at the same time," said Capriglione.
The State of Texas already has something similar, the Sunset Advisory Commission, which reviews state agencies every 12 years and recommends reforms before entire departments are reauthorized. Capriglione tells NBC 5 his group will work with the advisory commission but their focus is more on day-to-day interaction with state government, not scrapping entire departments.
“To increase transparency. To go and open up our public information act, to open up the public meetings act, so taxpayers, voters, constituents, and the press can go and get as much information as possible," he said, "Because technology and modernization is not just about making a faster computer but it’s about making more of this data available.”
Eight out of the thirteen members of the committee are from North Texas including Rhetta Bowers, D - Rowlett, David Cook, R - Mansfield, Ana-Maria Rodriguez Ramos, D - Richardson, Mike Olcott, R - Fort Worth, Tony Tinderholt, R - Arlington, and Linda Garcia, D - Mesquite.
