More tax-dollar oversight and audits are coming for state agencies, universities and local governments through a new Florida “DOGE” task force launched by Governor Ron DeSantis. “I say we were DOGE before DOGE was cool,” DeSantis said while making the announcement Monday in Tampa. The task force will mirror the efforts controversially spearheaded by Elon Musk at the federal level. “I was very pleased to see the emphasis by the Trump administration on this Department of Government Efficiency, just goes with Elon Musk leading the charge. Now, Washington is a much different beast than Florida,” said DeSantis, while touting the state’s fiscal responsibility and his proposed budget cuts. The governor says Florida DOGE will sunset after a year and use new technology and AI to take tax-dollar oversight to the next level of a “multi-pronged approach to eliminating bureaucratic bloat and modernizing our state government to best serve the people of Florida in the years ahead.” The DOGE team will be established in the governor’s office and be responsible for recommending legislative reforms to promote efficiency and eliminate spending waste. It will also oversee independent audits of all of Florida’s public universities and identify and report “unnecessary spending” in counties and municipalities. DeSantis says his office has already identified more than 70 state boards and commissions that should be abolished, as well as hundreds of state jobs. He said the list of boards and task force appointments will be released soon. “This will restore power and accountability to Floridians,” said DeSantis, noting some of those boards' duties could be adopted by state agencies that will also establish their own DOGE teams. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/politics/desantis-doge-florida-agency-elon-musk/67-32a0defe-8da6-4463-836e-b5f79c73feaf