The North Dakota Senate passed a bill on Friday to create a state Department of Government Efficiency task force in the same vein as the federal DOGE. House Bill 1442 passed the Senate with a 41-4 vote and now heads back to the House for a vote of concurrence before it can be sent to the governor’ s desk. The bill, introduced by Rep. Nathan Toman, R-Mandan, would create a task force made up of 10 members. The director of the Office of Management and Budget, the chief operating officer for the Office of the Governor, one elected statewide officer appointed by the governor, one person residing in the state appointed by the governor, three members of the House of Representatives and three members of the Senate. Each member would serve two-year terms. The chairman of legislative management would select one of the legislators serving on the task force to act as its chairman. They would meet at least quarterly, or more frequently at the call of the chairman. According to the bill’s carrier on the Senate floor, Sen. Chuck Walen, R-New Town, the task force’s goal is to identify areas where North Dakota can increase efficiency, implement cost-saving measures, and find unnecessary, duplicative or outdated laws, rules and regulations. Members would submit an annual report of their findings to legislative management and present legislative management with potential changes to consider in future sessions. “Just to slash is not why I brought it,” Toman said. “It is to create an effective, efficient government that is cognizant of the taxpayer dollars and is a good steward of those dollars, and not just spending them because we have some.” Toman said he brought amendments to the bill in the Senate that he feels make the bill “more streamlined and effective.” He anticipates that the House will vote to concur with the Senate amendments and send the bill to the governor. “Having worked on it, I thought I had a really good bill,” Toman said. “You get here and you get questions in committees on both sides, and then you come up with amendments. I think it’s in its best form now. I think it’s going to be effective and it is what I imagined it should be.” There has been widespread reporting on growing national frustration with the federal Department of Government Efficiency, but Toman said he had been thinking about a bill of this nature for over two years — long before Elon Musk and the Trump administration created the federal DOGE. “I think it’ll set us up for better success throughout the session,” Toman said. “The intent is not just to come in and cut 15% of a budget, right? It’s to say, ‘Okay, where are the efficiencies, where are the duplications?’ And then we can make that decision. We have to vote on it again here (in the Legislature), once those recommendations are brought up.” Related Articles North Dakota mayor resigns after sending lewd video to city attorney by mistake Hunting for shed antlers an anticipated rite of spring for members of N.D. family Ex-North Dakota lawmaker gets 10 years for going to Europe with intent to pay for sex with a minor Fire at Fargo Tesla charging station believed to be intentionally set Clint Hill, Secret Service agent who leaped onto JFK’s car after the president was shot, dies at 93 North Dakota is not the first state to implement a state-level task force or department similar to the federal DOGE. A number of other states have introduced DOGE legislation or seen executive orders creating DOGE-like committees and task forces. Walen said the bill is a companion bill to Senate Bill 2308, which investigates the licensing boards in the state, which has been passed by both chambers and is waiting on a vote of concurrence in the Senate before it can head to the governor’s desk. The legislation includes an emergency clause, meaning it would take effect immediately, and a sunset clause ending the task force in July 2031. ...read more read less