During 15 years leading Americans for Prosperity, I witnessed many announcements about government regulatory reform. A governor, often well-meaning, would name a blue-ribbon commission. The commission would meet a few times, issue a report with a nice cover, and then quietly disband. Usually, within a couple of years, the state’s regulatory rulebook was longer than when it started. I came to see “regulatory reform” the way most people treat a gym membership in January: a nice idea quickly forgotten.
So, I want to be careful about this next sentence because I do not give casual compliments to any government. Texas is actually executing sustained regulatory reform that’s saving taxpayers money and creating jobs in the Lone Star State.
In 2025, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 14, the Regulatory Reform and Efficiency Act, and created the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office inside the Governor’s Office. That placement matters. Gov. Greg Abbott now has a team whose sole focus is assisting state agencies in cutting red tape and saving Texans’ money.
After less than a year, TREO has already saved Texas families $123.2 million, with more savings on the horizon. It has reviewed 4,177 rules, made 437 recommended reductions, and removed 69,500 words from the Texas Administrative Code. The Governor’s Office says the first round covered 11 state agencies. When market growth effects are included in the calculation, Texans will actually see double those savings and even more job creation.
With assistance from TREO, Texas’s Alcoholic Beverage Commission is consolidating the violation categories in its penalty chart and repealing a stretch of administrative rules, and it scheduled a public meeting in August to hear from license holders first. The Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors posted its preliminary review and opened an email inbox for comment. That is what regulatory reform looks like when it is being done rather than announced.
TREO’s new AI-powered website is making it easier for Texans to review the exact pathway to careers in high-paying fields such as welding, electrical work, and plumbing. A person who runs a welding shop or wants to work in a welding shop does not think in terms of title, chapter, and section. He or she thinks in terms of what they need to do to actually earn a living in the field. The TREO AI-powered website does exactly that better than any state or government effort I have seen.
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TREO provides a nimble, laser-focused permanent office with a crystal-clear operating premise that assists state agencies in real regulatory reform with an easy-to-use public participation built into the front of the process rather than bolted on at the end. TREO’s model is right, and other governors would be wise to study it for replication.
Texas has turned regulatory review and elimination into a relentless culture instead of a one-time event. TREO’s success is a reason why job creation is so abundant and consistent in Texas. Not surprisingly, people by the millions are voting with their feet by moving to Texas from other states year after year.
Tim Phillips is Nestpoint’s Director of Global and Government Affairs.