NC Newsline - North Carolina state senators approved a bill Tuesday that would spin up a new team in the Republican state auditor’s office to scrutinize state spending and job openings.
Drawing inspiration from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, the bill would instruct Auditor Dave Boliek’s office to use A.I. to examine government and recommend any offices or jobs to be cut. Boliek’s new team (with an acronym of “DAVE”) would not have the sole power to cut jobs or spending, and would be dissolved at the end of his term.
Senate Bill 474 passed the chamber on a 29-17, party-line vote. It now heads to the House.
Sen. Tim Moffitt (R-Henderson), who sponsored the bill, called it a “comprehensive look at how our state agencies utilize taxpayer money.”
Senate Democrats, as well as the State Employees Association of North Carolina, strongly opposed the bill, arguing that it further hurts the state’s ability to recruit and retain government workers.
“(Republicans) are not going to fill the 20% vacancy rates of positions that North Carolinians need and depend on,” Sen. Terence Everitt (D-Granville) told reporters after the vote. “And they don’t want to take responsibility for their own failures of mismanaging an economy for 14 years.”
Democrats filed a series of unsuccessful amendments Tuesday, including one to require the auditor to also examine school voucher spending and crisis pregnancy centers that receive state dollars.
Boliek, who beat Democrat and former Auditor Jessica Holmes last November, has spoken in support of the bill. He argues it effectively shores up authority his office already has — while adding resources and setting a precise timeline by which to make recommendations to lawmakers.
And he’s said that A.I., which is not currently utilized in an official capacity by state government, would be a useful tool for the new team.
“The fact is, we’ve got to start somewhere in the state of North Carolina using A.I.,” Boliek said during a committee hearing last week. “Because it’s coming. There’s no better place than the state auditor’s office to get started with that.”
