John Torbett, a Gaston County representative, was recently appointed by North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall to lead a new house committee alongside Beaufort County Representative Keith Kidwell.
The Select Committee on Government Efficiency will, "examine state and local government operations for potential waste, duplication of services, mismanagement, and violations of constitutional liberties," according to a press release.
In the release, Kidwell said, "As the new Trump administration rightfully takes aim at Washington D.C.’s wasteful spending and inefficient bureaucracy, it is time for us in Raleigh to do the same. This committee will investigate ways our state government can maximize value for North Carolina taxpayers, protect constitutional rights, and end the weaponization of state power.”
The concept for this committee was discussed over lunch several months ago, at which time, Torbett said he brought it to Hall's attention.
"I explained to him I thought we needed an effort to look at a zero-based budgeting approach to better align expenses with state government spending and he took that, I reckon. Right when we came into session, he announced that he would have myself and representative Kidwell, who is an accountant, which we desperately need that, to chair this committee," he said. "Also, we are bringing in a state auditor for his access to the administrative part of state government and his ability to go in there and audit what we may have question about."
What they're saying: Hall said in the release that, "Unnecessary government bloat and waste," hurts taxpayers and the committee will aim to, "restore state and local governments across North Carolina to their proper, limited roles.”
Torbett said the initiative will include better aligning expenses with the department that needs to have control of those.
Torbett added that crucial programs that are providing positive results will not have anything to worry about.
"A good solid review and understanding of the initial intent of a program, the outcome, the deliverables, the proem effectiveness, that is what we will be looking at. If it is doing a good job, people don't have anything to worry about," he said.
"Speaking for myself, if at any time, one of our HR departments decides to hire someone based on something other than their merits and abilities, and if they decide to go some other way, or decide not to hire based on something other than merit or capability, if it were up to me, they would be let go immediately," he said.
What's next: According to Torbett, the committee's first actions will be to decide where they will start. He also hopes to see the program complete regular audit cycles going forward.