TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – A freshman state representative from Findlay is helping to lead a newly-formed group of lawmakers focused on government efficiency.

The Ohio House DOGE Caucus was inspired by efforts at the federal government led by Elon Musk at the Department of Government Efficiency.

One of the group’s vice chairs is Rep. Ty Mathews (R-Findlay). He said its 25 Republican members are looking at ways to make state government work better for Ohioans.

“We are looking at redundancies in government that make it difficult for people to interact with it,” Mathews said. “My hope for the caucus is that we’re making government better for the people, less redundant and more efficient.”

Lawmakers are working through the process of crafting and adopting a new state budget for the next two y ears. Mathews said the caucus is looking at budget line items and seeing if there are requests that can be scaled back or programs that can be condensed.

Mathews, who represents Hancock, Hardin and portions of Logan counties, said he’s a fan of the work Musk is doing at the federal level, but says Ohio’s caucus is different.

It’s not a government entity and the group doesn’t have the power to outright slash funding. But its members hope to advocate for government efficiency and introduce legislation that would streamline programs or agencies.

Other caucuses exist within the legislature or within political parties to exchange ideas or create strategies to accomplish their goals. That’s the initial aim of the House DOGE Caucus, Mathews said.

“I hope to create legislation that would create a committee, maybe with the state auditor, that would look at potential redundancies and agencies to give it a little more teeth,” Mathews said. “The purpose of the caucus right now is to develop ideas. Then we’ll go through the legislative process to see if that is the will of Ohio.”

Mathews said his fellow vice chair is Rep. Ron Ferguson (R-Wintersville). The chair of the caucus is Rep. Tex Fischer (R-Boardman). Mathews encouraged Ohioans to contact members of the caucus with suggestions for how government could be streamlined or made more efficient.

“If you have those ideas, please reach out,” Mathews said.

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