By Ben Margiott, News 4 & Fox 11, March 3, 2025
There’s been a renewed focus on efficiency at all levels of government in response to Elon Musk’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency,’ an effort to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.
So — does Nevada need a version of DOGE? And who is working in state government to make sure taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and effectively?
Unlike the federal government, which is currently $36 trillion in debt, Nevada cannot carry deficits — the state constitution requires that lawmakers pass a balanced budget, meaning revenues must equal expenditures.
In the biennial state legislative session, lawmakers convene to amend and pass a budget for the following two fiscal years. Currently, the state budget proposed by Gov. Joe Lombardo for 2025-2027 is projected to be $12.7 billion.
Though the budget that is ultimately passed in Carson City will be balanced, there are still efforts to ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t being wasted. Here are a couple initiatives underway and proposed:
Gov. Lombardo supports DOGE-like reforms
Gov. Joe Lombardo’s press team recently posted that he agrees that Nevada needs DOGE reforms and touted several steps his administration has taken to make state government more efficient.
Specifically, they highlighted his efforts to streamline and eliminate regulations, bring state workers back in the office and transition state offices to state-owned buildings, which they said saved $200 million.
They also highlighted Senate Bill 78, which would merge 37 different occupational licensing boards down to just 17 boards. The measure hasn’t been scheduled for a hearing yet in the 83rd legislative session, which runs through early June.
Office of the Inspector General bill
Controller Andy Matthews (R) presented Assembly Bill 33 to the Assembly Committee on Government Affairs Monday morning. If passed, it would create the Office of the Inspector General, which would have wide authority to audit entities that receive state funding, including state agencies, local governments and nonprofits.
Matthews acknowledged the state already does internal performance audits, but said this new office would be more focused on forensic audits, including examining an entity’s inner workings, especially its finances.
He told reporters after the hearing Monday that it would fill a gap in the state’s current audit capacity and increase accountability and public trust in government.
This is a long overdue effort to bring greater transparency, accountability (and) oversight to government spending.
“We can debate all day long in this building and we do — Do we need more government spending? Do we need less government spending? And we have our areas of disagreement on that. But I think that one thing we all should be able to get behind Republican, Democrat, even citizens who may not even vote in our state. We should all be able to unite behind the concept of open, accountable and transparent government.”
The inspector general, who would be need to be unanimously appointed by the controller, treasurer and lieutenant governor, would be an independent, nonpartisan office. The exact cost of creating this office hasn’t been calculated yet, but Matthews estimated it would be $2-3 million per year.
Return on investment bill
Sen. Robin Titus (R-District 17) is backing Senate Bill 206, which would require the legislative counsel bureau to examine the return on investment of proposed and existing state programs between legislative sessions.
I think there’s not a citizen out there that pays taxes, that doesn’t want, doesn’t care about where those tax (dollars go).
“Was it worth it? Did it do what it was supposed to do? So it’s even more than economics, even more than the dollar sign. It was about okay, we funded this program for, say, childhood literacy. Were we able to achieve that goal?” Titus said.
SB206 hasn’t been scheduled for a hearing yet.
Email reporter Ben Margiott at [email protected]. Follow @BenMargiott on X and Ben Margiott KRNV on Facebook.