House panel advances proposal expanding Florida watchdog powers to apply to local governments

With a vote down party lines, a House committee supported putting a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot to eliminate the Lieutenant Governor position and create a new watchdog with expanded power to investigate local governments.

HJR 1325 would create a fifth Cabinet position called the Commissioner of Government Efficiency (COGE) whose focus would be auditing and investigating waste, fraud and abuse. The COGE would replace the Auditor General.

“There is no doubt that there is an ongoing national conversation about the size and scope and efficiency of the federal government,” Rep. Tyler Sirois, a Merritt Island Republican co-sponsoring the measure, said during the House State Affairs Committee meeting where the measure passed 17-8.

“Our constitutional amendment that we’re offering is really striking while the iron is hot, and engaging in this national conversation about how the government could be more efficient.”

But he added that Florida will have its own way of cutting government, calling it a “more a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer” approach.

The new COGE would get expanded power to not just look at the executive branch, but also special districts, counties and local governments.

“We’ve heard bills on how taxpayer dollars that are sent to the states and then back down to the municipal level perhaps have not been spent in the wisest way for the taxpayers,” said Rep. John Snyder, a Stuart Republican.

“What this Commissioner will now have the opportunity to do is really look at how every taxpayer dollar is spent throughout the many layers of government, the many municipalities of government, and again, make those recommendations back to us.”

Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, spoke out against HJR 1325 because she argued the state is “tightening the state’s grip” to control local communities. Meanwhile, the state faces long waits for people trying to unemployment or get disability resources, she said.

“I do think that there’s actually a mirror to look at ourselves before we even start holding local governments to a standard that we don’t often follow ourselves,” she said.

If voters approve the constitutional amendment, the Legislature would pick the first COGE and then the voters would decide starting in the 2028 election.

Republicans saw an opportunity to reshape government by adding the Cabinet member and permanently eliminating the Lieutenant Governor position since that job is currently vacant, Sirois said.

Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez left to become Interim President of Florida International University last month. With Nuñez’s former job empty, that means the state could reallocate the cost savings from her salary and support staff to COGE, Sirois said.