The Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office recently launched Efficiency.Texas.Gov to make it easier and faster for every Texan to find the exact rules, licenses and forms they need for their industry, profession or activity.
Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer
Texas has always been the state where a person can start with an idea and end with a livelihood. That promise is renewed by a government willing to be measured, willing to listen and willing to change.
Rebecca Slezak/San Antonio Express-News file photo
In 2025, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law the most consequential regulatory reform legislation in state history, which established the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office, known as TREO.
Its mission: Combat regulatory excess in the Lone Star State, making Texas more efficient and less intrusive in the lives of Texans.
Article continues below this ad
Just nine months after its launch, TREO, is already exemplifying efficiency.
TREO comprises a small but mighty office of eight. It is lean by design and ambitious by mandate. TREO does not write agency rules and does not dictate changes to Texas governmental agencies. Instead, it exists to assist state agencies in taking a hard, honest look at their rules, and then to retire the ones that no longer maximize Texans’ freedom, safety and prosperity, while modernizing the ones that do.
In March, the TREO team began its initial round of agency reviews.
Working collaboratively with 11 state agencies, more than 435 regulations were identified for amendment or repeal. These initial recommendations are slated to save Texas taxpayers an estimated $123 million.
Article continues below this ad
A growing majority of Americans believe that government waste is contributing to their financial strain, according to new polling by the State Financial Officers Foundation — 83% of respondents say that fraud or misuse of government funds contributes to higher taxes or increased costs for families.
By tripling down on efforts to eliminate waste and unnecessary red tape in Texas government, this effort is keeping more money in Texas taxpayers’ pockets and building on Abbott’s vision for the Texas of tomorrow.
TREO also recently launched a website, Efficiency.Texas.Gov, to make it easier and faster for every Texan to find the exact rules, licenses and forms they need for their industry, profession or activity.
At the heart of the one stop-shop website is the chatbot State Administration Manager, or SAM for short. A nod to our very own Sam Houston, the first president of the Republic of Texas.
Article continues below this ad
In a few seconds, Texans can identify whether a specific activity or business is regulated and understand how that regulation affects their family, their business, their customers or their property.
For the Texans who are exploring careers to help them achieve their American dream, the artificial intelligence concierge is there to assist.
With transparency being a primary objective, Efficiency.Texas.Gov publishes TREO’s regulation reduction recommendations so the public can see what is being examined, why and how those changes would benefit them.
Texas has always been a state where a person can start with an idea and end with a livelihood. That promise is renewed by a government willing to be measured, listen and change.
Article continues below this ad
Efficiency.Texas.Gov is how we listen. The reforms that follow are how we change.
As TREO continues its work, the office is expanding its reviews across additional agencies to deepen its impact on Texas’ regulatory landscape.
This commitment to reform will further unleash economic growth, foster greater opportunity for Texans and serve as a national model for how states can deliver smarter, leaner government.
Article continues below this ad
With TREO leading the charge of Abbott’s effort, Texas is securing a freer and more prosperous future for generations to come.
Jerome Greener is the director of the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office.