- General Assembly leaders Berger and Hall are advocating for government efficiency, with State Auditor Boliek highlighting the sharp contrast in state vs. federal debt per citizen.
Efforts to address government efficiency and waste are gaining momentum in North Carolina as lawmakers engage in ongoing discussions about spending oversight.
As a national conversation on government efficiency has grown with the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration, Senate Leader Phil Berger suggested similar waste could be detected and rooted out at the state level as well.
“I don’t think there’s any misapprehension on the part of members that we are operating at 100% efficiency as far as government spending. ” Berger said. “There is still more work that can be done on that. Members have been talking about the DOGE experience at the federal level and some of the things that that have apparently been uncovered.”
Berger highlighted the potential role of the new state auditor, Dave Boliek, in improving oversight, suggesting that the General Assembly may need to authorize additional authorities for the auditor.
“We probably need to see what additional authority, if any, he needs to engage in that sort of review of state spending,” Berger remarked. He also pointed to the state’s Governmental Operations Committee as a key tool in continuing to evaluate spending and governmental functions.
Boliek’s office told the Carolina Journal this week that government efficiency and effectiveness are a top priority for the state auditor. His legislative team is currently working on an agency bill that will modernize OSA and allow them to build a more streamlined office with greater capabilities.
Boliek offered insight on how the agency will investigate waste and efficiency in an interview with the Carolina Journal’s “The Debrief” on Thursday, adding that the DMV will be the first audit to test how impactful the auditor’s office can be for North Carolinians.
“That’s going to be our first test – top-to-bottom audit of the DMV to get not only financial efficiencies but to find ways to make that particular division – that particular part of state government – more customer service friendly and impactful in and of itself to North Carolinians,” Boliek said.
While the North Carolina per capita debt is $416 per person, the per capita debt at the federal level is $106,000 per person. Boliek explained that efficiency measures at the federal level are not going to be in any way similar to the scale of efficiency that his office will be working to find in North Carolina.
“Overall, from sort of a 30,000-foot view, we’re fully engaged with North Carolina government efficiency and finding efficiencies across government agencies both at the state level and at the municipal county level as well,” Boliek said. “So from a big picture we intend to be fully engaged on government efficiency, looking at it in a structured approach to get real impactful results and recommendations to policymakers in the General Assembly and members of the executive branch.”
On the House side, Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said on Friday that DOGE is coming to North Carolina. A new committee in the General Assembly will be running an audit to see where officials can cut waste, fraud, and abuse out of the state government.
DOGE is coming to North Carolina and the new committee will be running an audit to see where we can cut waste, fraud, and abuse out of our state government. pic.twitter.com/p0n7BQxA0K
— Speaker Destin Hall (@ncspeakerhall) March 7, 2025