New Hampshire’s Commission on Government Efficiency will soon present its first round of recommendations for saving money and time across state government.
The COGE, as Gov. Kelly Ayotte nicknamed it on her first day in office, taking after the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, has not met in public since March. Instead, the commission’s 15 members have been doing research behind the scenes.
Each member was assigned to examine different state departments and has been conducting individual conversations with commissioners and other state employees. They have also been soliciting public feedback with an online survey.
The COGE’s report is set to be released this fall, and Ayotte and the legislature will decide which recommendations they want to adopt.
Ayotte’s executive order creating the commission did not require its members to meet at a specific frequency. A spokesperson for Ayotte confirmed that the COGE’s recommendations will be made public but did not answer questions about why the commission stopped meeting publicly or whether those meetings would resume.
State Sen. Mark McConkey, a Republican representing most of Carroll County and the state senator designated to the COGE, said he wasn’t sure why the group’s public meetings ceased. He said he’s had “vigorous conversations” with state departments but declined to share his ideas just yet, deferring to the governor.
Other COGE members contacted by the Monitor either didn’t respond or declined an interview.
The commission acts in an advisory capacity and, unlike the federal DOGE, has no authority over state departments or spending. Ayotte said no changes will go into effect without her approval.
As they first began to brainstorm during their only two public meetings, the COGE members floated ideas to sell state-owned properties, streamline equipment purchases and outsource government services to curb state spending.
But that’s not all the commission’s work is about, former governor Craig Benson, who co-chairs the commission, said at the March meeting.
“At the end of the day, it’s cost savings,” he said, “but it’s also effectiveness and efficiency and making sure that people in the state, and the people that work in the state, feel good about their job and feel good about their service and are happy with the things that we can do to make their lives better.”