Governor, your clock is ticking. Choose wisely.
File photo: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks about I-75 improvements during a press conference at Big Daddy Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing south of Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.
When Gov. Ron DeSantis’s office sent out a press release on Feb. 24 announcing he was setting up the Florida Department of Governmental Efficiency “to further eliminate state government waste, save taxpayers money, and ensure accountability in Florida,” it made for a good sound bite for his followers, but it left many unanswered questions.
The strategy, according to a media release, is to set up a state DOGE as a year-long task force to look for waste. If you’re struck by the irony of a plan to trim state government agencies by creating a new one, you’re not alone.
DeSantis said this new agency will utilize artificial intelligence to analyze public data from state agencies, universities and local governments.
“Florida will utilize AI to supplement ongoing efforts to review operations at our state agencies and identify more ways to cut unnecessary spending and eliminate bureaucracy,” according to the release.
Initially, I liked that DeSantis was willing to admit that even Republican-majority governments like his own and elsewhere in the country, needed to examine their spending habits. Journalists would generally agree this is why we will never run out of work; officeholders slip things into budgets that the public needs help identifying so they can provide accountability.
DeSantis held a press conference the following day where he said the “liberal media,” a favorite boogeyman of his and like-minded politicians, has been hesitant in certain communities to dig in and report on wasteful spending. As always, he offers zero proof of this curious assertion.
One might wonder: Why now? DeSantis has been in office since 2019. If all this bloating and waste has been so obvious and rampant around the state, on his watch, for nearly six years as governor, why is he only now noticing? Could it be he simply wants to curry favor with the administration in Washington D.C. and continue to portray himself as a “mini-me” for the occupant of the Oval Office?
If he has stood by while waste ran rampant for so long, shouldn’t he have to answer for it? Doesn’t he and the GOP, which has run the state for more than 20 years, own this?
But, sure, it’s the fault of the pesky “liberal media” and not those who actually hold the power to address it.
Here is a closer look at each of the goals of the state DOGE as identified by the governor’s office:
“Eliminate Bureaucracy”
Most, if not all, taxpayers say they want bloated government bureaucracy trimmed, with one important – if often unstated – caveat: so long as the cuts don’t impact the services they rely on and regularly use. Go ahead and hack everything else.
For example, as a journalist, wading through state bureaucracy to independently fact-check information—including the governor’s claims that Florida is “the best” at pretty much everything—is frustrating because of the state’s institutional inefficiency in responding to public records requests.
Many state agencies already are backed up for more than a year in records requests and data supply. This is an impediment not just for journalists. Reporters need access to information generated at the public’s expense, of course, but so do lawyers, insurance company employees, general contractors and developers, medical services workers – pretty much anyone who interacts with the government in any capacity. The list is endless.
This inefficiency leaves the public in the dark. In the case of journalists, we are left relying only on what the government representatives tell us is the truth without any proof or supporting documentation.
I have asked the DOC for documents to clarify the situation and, a year and counting after filing my request, I finally got an invoice for the records. Setting aside the fact that I was billed for documents that my taxes already paid to produce, I immediately paid the bill. Two weeks later, I’m still waiting for the records.
If this were the private sector, say I paid for a new roof and no roofers showed up, I’d be howling at the contractor and threatening a lawsuit. But this is the government. I’m left shouting into the wind.
Governor, if you are looking for a place to improve government efficiency, here’s a good place to start.
“Abolish an additional 70 boards and commissions this year”
At the press conference, I asked DeSantis if he could be more specific about what 70 boards and commissioners were on his chopping block. Could the public have the list, and the criteria being used to justify eliminating these boards?
He answered that he was working it out with legislators, and we should expect to see them identified in a bill by the end of the week.
So, either a list does not exist at the moment or one is being created and circulated behind closed doors. Why can’t citizens see what is being targeted for elimination before the axe falls, when it will be too late to try to save these services?
Again, please note that the GOP has run Florida for 20 -plus years and, presumably, Republican officeholders created these commissions and boards, not the liberal media. Is he acknowledging that his fellow Republicans have created needless boards?
My biggest beef with DOGE is the lack of transparency, despite the juvenile boastings of chainsaw-waving President Elon Musk to the contrary. DeSantis’ well-earned reputation for pettiness and retribution toward anyone in his way raises important questions of whether this list will consist of any boards and commissions that have not fully supported his demands.
How can anyone accurately evaluate these actions and inform the public of what is afoot if everything is cloaked in secrecy? How are we to know if these are legitimate cuts to government waste or simply ego-driven actions by our notoriously thin-skinned governor?
Gov. DeSantis, here is an opportunity for you to shine: Be more transparent with your version of DOGE than your federal counterparts.
We would like to trust that you are doing this in the public’s best interest, but in the famous words of Republican icon President Ronald Reagan: Trust but verify.
“Florida will conduct a deep dive into all facets of college and university operations and spending and make recommendations to the Board of Governors and State Board of Education to eliminate any wasteful spending.”
During his press conference, DeSantis went on at length about concerns that funds furthering the goals of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) are somehow being hidden under other names in university budgets and “ideology” is being taught that does students “no good.”
Seriously, is DEI in universities really one of the most-pressing problems facing Florida today? If DeSantis were to spend more time with his constituents, maybe go back to hurricane-ravaged neighborhoods that are literally still underwater months after the storms have passed, is that what he would hear?
DeSantis’ tenure as governor is ticking down, and how he uses this limited time is his choice. But it seems obvious that there are better uses of his energy.
For example, how about providing more support for disabled people in Florida. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Florida ranks 49th among the 50 states and D.C. for per-capita spending for the disabled, many of whom have been on waiting lists for years to get any help.
Imagine being a parent of a special-needs child who has extensive medical problems, or families trying to care for an elderly parent or any of a host of real-world health crises around our state. Imagine being told your concerns have to wait, the governor is too busy rooting out DEI from universities.
Why can’t we shift the conversation from arguing about what we don’t want to what we do want? I’d wager that if we had that conversation, there would be more partisan agreement than dissent.
“Further Examine State Agencies”
DeSantis said he’s going to review about 900 unspecified state positions. Again, such a review could be beneficial if the real goal is to improve services and lower taxes and fees for constituents.
But why not fill the growing list of state positions that remain vacant, costing taxpayers a lot of money? One recent example is the state guard being used, at exorbitant cost, to fill staffing positions at state prisons.
There is also a major shortfall of qualified people looking after the needs of our most vulnerable populations, including children in foster care and elderly who need protection.
The state has a critical shortage of first responders, teachers, and doctors, which impacts citizen care. Rather than focusing on cutting jobs, DeSantis could direct his DOGErs to shift resources to fill these essential jobs.
“Audit Local Governments”
According to the media release, the “state task force will look into local government expenditures by utilizing publicly available county and municipal spending records to expose bloat within local governance.”
Here, DeSantis could partner with those rascals in the “liberal media” who have been just that for decades.
I offer one example among many: The “Gazette” and other local media have reported extensively about Ocala illegally collecting fire service fees for many years. When that was exposed through a lawsuit, the media kept this issue in the public’s view and ultimately, Ocala was ordered by a judge to repay more than $80 million to utility customers. The “Gazette” went a step further and provided an essential service by connecting the public with their refunds.
Somehow, I don’t recall DeSantis or any other prominent state legislator taking up this issue or thanking the media for this enormous public service.
But we don’t use journalism only to expose government faults; we are also there to report when local leaders make good decisions. In fact, we side with our local leaders when they push back against the overreach of state government.
The governor and state legislators have tied the hands of local officials who are trying to meet and fund our unique local needs. They have restricted ways on how local elected officials can raise needed funds and where they can spend it.
The state’s undermining local government’s ability to make decisions under the principles of “home rule” makes me uncomfortable, and I don’t think I’m alone. We know the people we elect locally are more accessible and accountable for their actions because they live here.
“Florida will aid DOGE’s federal efforts to save taxpayers’ money by returning unused or surplus federal dollars allocated to the state.”
Time will only tell the cause and effect of the draconian cuts at the federal level. I can’t help but think that a few questions from knowledgeable journalists who study the inner workings of government like no one else could have helped refine some of those choices if they were publicly considered first.
Questions like, how many disabled veterans will this impact?
Or, Mr. Musk, are you sure about recklessly firing everyone tasked with overseeing our nuclear arsenal? What’s your backup security plan if that half-baked decision fails?
The House budget framework approved Tuesday night would drastically slash Medicaid funding, a decision that will devastate thousands of Marion County residents. This will cause unnecessary harm to the weakest among us.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “If Florida expanded Medicaid, the federal government would pay 90% of the costs of the Medicaid expansion, plus Florida would see a net gain of $1.8 billion over 2 years in ARPA fiscal incentive payments.”
We care about using tax dollars in an impactful way, and I’m guessing you do, as well.
Gov. DeSantis, how you use your remaining time and authority as governor is up to you. But, maybe you should care more about helping your citizens than about chasing DEI in universities and other culture war distractions.
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