New committee will pursue budget savings

Last month, North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall tapped Rep. John Torbett, R-Gaston; and Rep. Keith Kidwell, R-Beaufort, to lead a new select committee on government efficiency.

The timing is no coincidence, as Kidwell confirmed in the official announcement. “As the new Trump administration rightfully takes aim at Washington D.C.’s wasteful spending and inefficient bureaucracy,” he said, “it is time for us in Raleigh to do the same.”

Hall added that “unnecessary government bloat and waste hurt North Carolina taxpayers’ wallets and divert funds that could be used for core functions such as public safety and education.”

North Carolina is one of several states announcing select committees or other projectsmimicking the mission, and often the name, of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in recent weeks. While I have concerns about the federal initiative — its budget-savings target is flatly impossible without expanding its scope to encompass entitlement reform, for example — I do believe lawmakers ought to take a fresh look at state government operations and finances.

As I’ve pointed out repeatedly since last fall, the General Assembly may face some tough decisions over the 2025-27 budget biennium. Hurricane Helene recovery and reconstruction has only just begun. Total General Fund revenues for the first half of the fiscal year are up a sizable $918 million over the first half of 2023-24, but expenses are also rising and spring collections from the income tax can be volatile.

Moreover, if Congress and the Trump administration do attempt serious action to shrink federal deficits this year, it will probably include some reductions in aid to states and localities. The fiscal impact may not come until 2026 or later — but state lawmakers ought to brace for impact. The committee headed by Torbett and Kidwell, which will apparently do much of its work between the 2025 and 2026 sessions, can be part of a broader strategy for addressing our fiscal challenges.

One issue deserving reexamination is the distribution of jobs across state government. North Carolina has more public employees per capita than the national median. While this is partly attributable to the fact that we have more government-owned hospitals than most states, lawmakers ought to compare staffing levels in our departments to comparable agencies in peer states.

As for inefficient and low-priority spending, the General Assembly need not look far to find examples. Over the past few years, lawmakers themselves have slipped into the state budget hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to local governments and nonprofits — pork-barrel spending, to put it bluntly.

Some of these projects were worthwhile. Others were indefensible. All should have either been funded through competitive grants or been financed locally or privately.

In Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds worked with legislators in 2023 to save $217 million through reforms and reductions, including the consolidation of 37 agencies down to 16. Past North Carolina governors and legislatures implemented agency consolidations, as well, although it wouldn’t hurt to reconsider the issue this cycle. I’d also like to see us eliminate some state licensing and certification boards, which would not only cut administrative costs but also expand economic freedom for North Carolinians who may want to change careers or go into business for themselves.

Finally, the new select committee should devise a comprehensive set of work requirements for all able-bodied North Carolinians on public assistance. In some cases, such policies are already clearly permitted by federal law but inadequately implemented here. In other cases, our state should seek clarification or waivers from the Trump administration to require work for benefits.

Why prioritize fiscal responsibility? “The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the government,” Calvin Coolidge once observed. “Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical form.”

John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member. His books Mountain Folk, Forest Folk, and Water Folk combine epic fantasy and American history.