While periodic efficiency efforts have been a staple of state and local government management for decades, new tools and rising budget pressures are dramatically accelerating efficiency-related reforms. In a mid-January article, Melissa Maynard, who oversees the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Fiscal Fifty project, scanned the actions states are taking to improve resident experience, reduce costs and rethink the way that government delivers services.

“When people hear efficiency, they often think cuts,” she said in a January 27, 2026 LinkedIn post. But “Increasingly states are using it to mean making things work better -- how services work; how people interact with government and how problems are solved. That shift is one of the most important stories in state government right now.”

Maynard’s article is filled with evidence to back-up this statement, detailing current state efficiency efforts that are aimed at saving money and improving services at the same time. These initiatives utilize multi-agency collaboration, establishment of digital service teams, technological advances (including generative AI) and in-depth research into both the experiences of residents and the barriers that block good service delivery.

There are countless examples in the article. Here are a few:

• A Maryland modernization initiative has been focusing on improvements to procurement. This is part of statewide coordination that is going into “leveraging the state’s purchasing power to bring down costs on everything from vehicle fleets to technology assets and office supplies.”  One example: savings of $800,000 by spreading the word and “providing easier access to an underutilized, low-cost statewide shipping contract.”

• AI tools have helped Arizona’s Department of Child Safety better balance “intensive administrative requirements alongside emotionally taxing work helping families.” The result has been a paring back of time spent on reporting activities, saving “an estimated 17 minutes per reporting activity, equaling 2,800 staff hours a year, according to the department’s chief information officer, Frank Sweeney, who said the object was to remove reporting tasks as much as possible so employees “can focus on having those real, meaningful interactions with children and families.”

• Utah has established continuous monitoring and evaluation of the state’s “Government Reform, Innovation & Transparency (GRIT) initiative, which was launched in May through a gubernatorial executive order. In addition to widespread AI deployment, the approach has aggressively solicited “resident feedback via QR codes and website widgets.” The object: better understanding the reliability of state services, the compassion residents receive and how satisfied they are. Agencies are required to “regularly report on cost, time and service improvements metrics.  The governor’s office estimates savings of 12,000 staff time hours, $7.7 million in savings and $9.8 million in service enhancements.

• Part of Colorado’s effort has focused on reducing “the state’s leased and owned space.” Other efforts have relied on identifying the reasons behind subpar resident experiences. For example, in January 2025, unemployment insurance wait times averaged 37 minutes. By October, a mix of strategies helped reduce call wait time to15 minutes. How did that work? Researchers uncovered information that showed more than half of 30,000 callers each month just wanted to know the status of their claims – information that is now provided by an AI-powered virtual agent. Other solutions came from adding 18 bilingual agents and other online features to cut back on the number of calls. 

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