This is what we wanted to hear. It happened yesterday at the governor’s press conference announcing that the Fiscal Responsibility Program had identified hundreds of millions of dollars in wasteful expenditures that Gov. Jeff Landry says can be scrubbed from the budget next year.

Gov. Jeff Landry announced that “hundreds of millions of dollars in savings” were found in an initiative to watch state spending and improve government efficiency.

The state’s Fiscal Responsibility Program, inspired by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), launched in December 2024. Findings were announced Thursday morning by Gov. Jeff Landry and Fiscal Responsibility Czar Steve Orlando.

“Through difficult, persistent work, we identified hundreds of millions in savings without cutting services. In fact, we added services. This is real money that helps our state live within its means,” Orlando said.

Landry stated that the work is just starting as he announced his goal to reform the Louisiana Office of Inspector General, which investigates white-collar criminal and public corruption cases in the state government’s executive branch.

Reform, according to Landry, would focus on optimization and efficiency within the state government. He explained that the office would take reports from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor and analyze them to identify efficiency opportunities.

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Legislative approval would be needed to make changes to the Inspector General’s Office, Landry added.

“We haven’t stopped, and we won’t stop in finding efficiencies and actually improving the services we have provided through state government,” Landry said. “These steps help to bring us closer to our goal of eliminating the income tax. We will continue to cut wasteful spending, put those efficiencies to work, improving services and hitting priorities.”

Stephen Street, who’s been the Inspector General in Louisiana since 2008, announced his retirement. We don’t have any reason to think he’s being run off or anything like that, but building a position and an office that is far more aggressive in going after waste and fraud would do us some good. The Inspector General has never really had enough power.

But through all of that, Landry also explained what the waste-cutting is for – and it’s what he was elected to do. A press release from the LAGOP…

Today, in a press conference announcing historic savings from his government efficiency efforts, Governor Jeff Landry again stated his commitment to eliminating the State’s income tax.

Governor Landry and the Legislature already put in place the largest income tax cut in state history, paid for in part by the elimination of waste in government. Today, after announcing that over the last year his fiscal responsibility program has identified nearly $1 Billion in savings and efficiencies, he again called for the eventual elimination of Louisiana’s income tax.

“Today, I am announcing to the people of Louisiana that we have found hundreds of millions of dollars in savings within the Louisiana state government,” Landry said.  These savings and efficiencies have allowed Landry to keep state spending nearly flat, after his first budget cut billions, despite still dealing with the same Biden inflation families face everyday.

The announcement is the result of meticulous work by LA DOGE, spearheaded by Fiscal Responsibility Czar Steve Orlando. For the first time in recent memory, Louisiana’s government is no longer supplementing recurring expenses with one-time income. Landry committed to ongoing reforms and continued historic private sector investment leading to tens of thousands of new jobs in the state. He stated these efforts will help continue lowering the tax burden on Louisiana citizens toward the ultimate goal of a zero percent income tax.

“Governor Landry is once again proving what true conservative leadership can accomplish,” said Republican Party Chairman Derek Babcock. “These reforms have led to millions in savings for the State, and he’s just getting started. With this type of dedication and leadership, I’m confident we will eliminate the income tax sooner than expected.”

The Louisiana Freedom Caucus PAC polled the issue of dumping the state income tax three years ago, and specifically asked if respondents would favor it if cutting the budget to “pay for” the elimination of the income tax was the means.

The result was an overwhelming yes.

There is zero reason to believe anything has changed. And while the tax has come down under Landry’s tenure as governor it’s still an incomplete promise.

He’d do himself a lot of good by committing the state to a full phase-out of the income tax. The lower it gets, the more people will bristle at the inconvenience and time-suck of having to file the damn thing every year – and that irritation will end up being as great as the expense involved in paying it.

So far, we haven’t seen anyone talking about bringing a bill to eliminate the income tax in this spring’s session. We’ll keep watching for that. Now is the year to bring such a bill – if people don’t have to file state income taxes in 2027 it’ll inure to the political benefit of incumbents  running for re-election that year.