Description: The 2025-26 budget appropriated up to $20 million to the Department of Finance (DOF) to contract with a consulting firm to assist and advise DOF in creating efficiencies through process improvements in state government. The budget assumed that the process changes resulting from the contract would reduce state costs by $500 million in 2025-26, growing to $2 billion in annual savings by 2028-29. This post provides background on the state’s recent efforts to identify efficiencies to achieve budget savings and our office’s comments and recommendations concerning the progress of the administration’s efforts to reduce state costs through this contract.