by Jon Styf
A Wisconsin group is calling for its state government to undergo a review of state government spending and staffing similar to what is being proposed for the new federal Department of Government Efficiency led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Wisconsin’s Institute for Reforming Government is reiterating a plan it proposed in 2023 to reduce the number of full-time state employees by contracting for professional services and finding redundancies.
The group also proposed to scale back Madison-based state agencies and moving state workers into the communities their department serves, creating less office space while making remote work more accountable.
“With renewed attention on right-sizing government and reducing unnecessary bureaucracy at the federal level, it’s time for state lawmakers to seriously rethink how state agencies operate as well,” said Chris Reader, Executive Vice President of the Institute for Reforming Government. “We released a plan to rethink, reorganize, and modernize state agencies in 2023. It was DOGE before DOGE was cool. With voters distrusting the bureaucracy, Governor Evers and lawmakers have a great opportunity in 2025 to listen to voters and reimagine state government.”
Unlike the federal effort, whose leaders say they won’t be working with Congress to reduce the federal spending and staffing levels, IRG is calling for state representatives to lead the effort to reduce government spending.
The group said that its polling shows that 73% of Wisconsin residents agree that state agencies should review new regulations before they are enacted and that 67% favor having regulations expire after seven years unless they are re-approved by the legislature.
The group is also calling for Wisconsin to create one-stop shops with a single digital portal for government services.
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Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter of The Center Square who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies.
