FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, August 28, 2025
CONTACT: Christina Johnson
Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch released a report Government Efficiency Should Not Be Something We Only Do Every Four Years and fully supports the state’s renewed focus on government efficiency. In fact, government efficiency is important enough to Florida taxpayers that, in 2006, they voted to establish a Government Efficiency Task Force (GETF) in Florida’s constitution. Further, Governor Ron DeSantis’ recent Executive Order 25-44 (which expires March 31, 2026) establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) teams within state agencies reminds us that government efficiency is not something we should only do every four years but something we need to practice daily.
Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic M. Calabro said, “Through Florida TaxWatch’s Center for Government Efficiency and numerous cost savings task forces, we have offered hundreds of recommendations that would save Florida taxpayers billions of their hard-earned tax dollars. Government efficiency, transparency, and accountability are concepts that are hard-wired into our corporate DNA. We are proud to say that Florida TaxWatch was DOGE before Florida was DOGE.”
Florida TaxWatch Executive Vice President and General Counsel Jeff Kottkamp said, “Convening once every four years, the constitutionally mandated ‘Government Efficiency Task Force’ meets for the purpose of developing recommendations to improve governmental operations and reduce costs. Florida TaxWatch firmly believes that, if government efficiency is important enough to the taxpayers to be enshrined in our state constitution, then it should be important enough to the legislature to be enshrined in Florida Statutes.”
The Government Efficiency Task Force reviews reports from the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA), the Auditor General, agency inspectors general, legislative reports, and other agency reports to identify issues that could produce cost savings or improve government efficiency. Please see report here for specific recommendations.
In support of Executive Order 25-44 and the constitutionally-mandated Government Efficiency Task Force, Florida TaxWatch suggests the legislature consider a key recommendation contained in the Government Efficiency Task Force’s June 2016 Final Report to establish the “Florida Government Efficiency Act.” This legislation would require the Governor’s annual budget recommendations to include recommendations for improving governmental operations and reducing costs.
These would consider reports and recommendations issued by the Auditor General, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, the Government Efficiency Task Force, agency inspectors general, state agencies, and recommendations from respected and credible institutions like Florida TaxWatch that are dedicated to government efficiency. The legislature would be required to consider the Governor’s cost savings and efficiency recommendations when crafting the General Appropriations Act.
Florida TaxWatch recommends that the 2026 legislature amend Chapter 216, Florida Statutes, to enact the proposed Florida Government Efficiency Act.
To learn more please click here.
About Florida TaxWatch
As an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit government watchdog and taxpayer research institute, and the trusted “eyes and ears” of Florida taxpayers for more than 45 years, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) works to improve the productivity and accountability of Florida government. Its research recommends productivity enhancements and explains the statewide impact of fiscal and economic policies and practices on taxpayers and businesses. FTW is supported by its membership via voluntary, tax-deductible donations and private grants. Donations provide a solid, lasting foundation that has enabled FTW to bring about a more effective, responsive government that is more accountable to, and productive for, the taxpayers it has served since 1979. For more information, please visit www.floridataxwatch.org.
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