Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said he wants to cut government spending and make the state more efficient, echoing President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The Republican-backed Senate Bill 28 aims to do just that. Under the bill, state agencies would be required to review their rules and regulations every four years to find less restrictive and less costly alternatives.
It would also allow the governor and legislative leaders to request a report on how proposed bills could affect small businesses and require agencies to consider the economic impact of proposed rules.
Jones, who is expected to run for governor next year, rebranded the legislative priority that he introduced last year as a “state-level DOGE.”
“Our state initiative complements DOGE, President Donald Trump’s plan to create efficiency while paring down unnecessary spending and eliminating bureaucratic red tape at the federal level,” Jones said in a statement.
Aiming to shrink government is nothing new for Republicans, but DOGE, led by Trump ally Elon Musk, has placed a new emphasis on the idea, and Georgia’s GOP lawmakers are not alone. Republican state lawmakers across the country are seeking ways to cut government spending in Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin.
Trump last month signed an executive order establishing DOGE in an effort to slash billions in federal spending and shrink the government. DOGE has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle and a growing number of legal challenges for potentially overstepping its authority.
Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, is sponsoring SB 28 and said he wants to replicate Trump’s efforts at the state level.
“What we’re seeing with the Trump administration doing right with Elon Musk is exactly what we need to do at every level of government around the country,” Gooch said.
The bill would task Georgia’s Department of Audits and Accounts with providing legislators with notes assessing the impact of legislation on small businesses.
On the other side of the aisle, State Sen. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta, and State Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, said they’d like to hear more about what Jones has coming down the pipeline before taking a stance, but said there is room for bipartisanship on helping small businesses.
However, both state legislators criticized Musk’s involvement in the federal government and his effort to slash federal spending.
“If the DOGE part is just branding, and what we’re really talking about is something Lt. Gov. has already been focused on, which is regulatory reform — there are aspects of that Democrats can get behind,” McLaurin said. “I’m hopeful that the national environment can calm down a little bit. I think what Musk is doing with the federal DOGE is illegal in like 10 different ways.”
Jones, an owner of a family-run petroleum business and an insurance business, made rolling back government regulation a priority last year. As part of that effort, the General Assembly passed bills with bipartisan support easing licensing requirements for hairstylists, veterinarians and qualified veterans seeking certain medical certifications.
“I don’t think the chaos we’re seeing at the federal level is what the Lt. Gov. intends in his legislative package,” McLaurin said. “That might be an accidental crossover of branding.”
Hunter Loggins, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said he’s backing the bill because the economic impact reports would serve as a reminder to lawmakers about the kind of effect legislation can have on small businesses.
“Sometimes lawmakers want to do what’s good, but the way they go about it, they don’t realize what sort of impact it will have on small business, whether it’s fiscally or otherwise,” Loggins said.
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