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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CLEVELAND — Ohio City is one of the few places where local businesses thrive, but the mom-and-pop motif on West 25th Street is about to change with the arrival of Chipotle.

“It’s disappointing,” said Sean Doyle, operations manager for Ohio City Burrito.

The new Chipotle will be less than a block away from his store, and will take over the space currently occupied by Soho Chicken and Whiskey.

Ohio City Burrito has been in its current location for nearly 16 years.

“You know, we don’t want to see this turn into another legacy village or, you know, a Crocker Park area where it’s just nothing but big box stores,” Doyle said.

Doyle said he welcomes the competition and doesn’t know what effect Chipotle will have on his business yet.

However, he and other business owners in Ohio City are disappointed to see corporate America slowly move in.

“To me, it’s just greedy,” said Maya Iwais, manager of Pizza Whirl. “You’re a big corporation, your food, your restaurant is found all over the place, and you decide to open up in the area where it’s local businesses, family businesses, just trying to make a name for themselves.”

“I think we were all a little disappointed that Ohio City Inc. didn’t keep the small mom-and-pop motif that it had going on here,” Doyle said. “So now it’s really up to the residents to keep it and support the local businesses.”

News 5 contacted Ohio City Inc. but was told they were not ready to make a statement at this time.

Chipotle also did not return our email asking for comment.

“I know we can’t do anything to stop them, but I think it should stay the way it is,” said Nathaniel Bodman, who works the line making pizza and wings at Pizza Whirl.

Bodman said the allure of Ohio City has been about community and friendships—neighbor helping neighbor.

“Like, if somebody’s down on their luck, they’ll be like, ‘Hey, we got this. We have whatever you need,’” Bodman said, “or, if we need some cheese or something, maybe somebody will be able to help if all the stores are closed.”

Feedback from the community has been strong.

“Even when Chipotle opens up, I’m still going to be coming here,” said Anton Keebler, who has been coming to Ohio City Burrito since it opened.

“Well, I mean, it’s delicious, it’s cheap, it’s affordable, it’s local,” Keebler said.

John Wheelan of Westlake told News 5 that he hopes Chipotle will not hurt Ohio City Burrito, but believes it could help the neighborhood.

“I think Ohio City is growing. [I] think it’s thriving. People are moving into the area. It’s a neighborhood of Cleveland that is improving, and that’s exciting,” said Whelan. “I’m excited that, personally, they’re bringing in a Chipotle. I think it will do great business and be good for the people in this neighborhood.”

The owners of Soho Chicken and Whiskey said they’ll be in business until Chipotle is ready to move in. They plan to reopen and stay in Ohio City but are unsure where.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will give his annual State of the State address at noon on Wednesday. He is expected to speak about childcare, education and mental health goals for the coming year.

News 5 livestream event

Usually, the governor announces his budget priorities during his SOTS. This year, he already outlined his proposal in a press conference. He will likely dive further into depth on specific issues, plus bring up accomplishments Ohio has had over the last year.

DeWine tries to protect school funding after GOP proposes cuts

Both Republican and Democratic leadership will be holding separate responses following the speech.

Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.