Whitney Tucker
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Whitney Tucker
@whitneytucker.bsky.social
Director of State Fiscal Research at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. I want better for us.
So, my advice? Track what’s happening in your state. Read your local news and follow the reporters online for real-time updates. Ask questions of your reps. Special sessions are a warning sign of problems lawmakers are struggling to solve, and often, of big changes to come.
July 25, 2025 at 4:35 PM
These sessions can fly under the radar, but they’re where major decisions get made. If you're not paying attention, you might miss big changes to taxes, health care, education, or democracy itself.
July 25, 2025 at 4:35 PM
To balance their budgets in the absence of federal support, states will have to either cut services they currently offer or find ways to raise new revenues. The special sessions are where lawmakers will debate their options.
July 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
But it’s not all nefarious. Many states are considering special sessions to figure out how to address the new costs put onto their states by congressional Republicans’ recent federal funding cuts to #SNAP, #Medicaid, and other priorities.
July 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Texas, for example, began a special session Monday with state Republicans *explicitly* focused on redrawing voting districts to pick up more GOP congressional seats.
www.npr.org/2025/07/21/1...
Texas GOP hopes to redraw congressional map and keep control of U.S. House : The NPR Politics Podcast
New congressional districts are on the agenda for the special session that began in Texas on Monday. We discuss why Texas is redrawing its congressional map now and what it and similar efforts in othe...
www.npr.org
July 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Nearly 20 special sessions have been proposed already, with 7 states already setting dates. Special sessions mean lawmakers are being pulled back *off-schedule* — often to debate high-stakes issues without the usual public scrutiny or timeline.
July 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Rather than establish new committees for the old work of efficiently balancing state budgets, lawmakers should focus on better raising revenues equitably to meet the needs of their constituents. Now is not the time for cuts, no matter what they’re called.
April 1, 2025 at 4:24 PM
While we all want government to be efficient, the question to ask at the state level is whether further slashing budgets will actually achieve that goal.
April 1, 2025 at 4:24 PM
States are already facing declining revenues, the fiscal consequences of their own tax cutting, and now, an indeterminate level of continued support from the federal government.
www.cbpp.org/blog/trackin...
Tracking State Disinvestment in Public Services | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
As states’ 2024 legislative sessions continue, several states are beginning to experience the fallout from counterproductive fiscal policy decisions made over the past few years. The combined...
www.cbpp.org
April 1, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Ironically, while conservative lawmakers may be hoping to gain favor with the Trump Admin through these state-level DOGE efforts, the work of DOGE at the federal level is already threatening state budgets.
www.cbpp.org/blog/sweepin...
Sweeping Federal Worker Layoffs Leave States Reeling | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Communities across the country have been reeling in recent weeks as billionaire Elon Musk, the DOGE team he leads, and the Trump Administration broadly continue their campaign of sweeping and...
www.cbpp.org
April 1, 2025 at 4:24 PM
For example, the group in NC is targeting government DEI programs. In FL, university spending is in the crosshairs. OK's DOGE Caucus will scrutinize state property taxes. And in IA, the state’s DOGE task force is comprised of governor-appointed private-sector business leaders.
April 1, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Nearly all states with a DOGE counterpart also have a Republican trifecta & DOGE focus areas tend to align with GOP legislative priorities.
April 1, 2025 at 4:24 PM
State-level DOGEs are adopting quirky new names for the same functions of fiscal oversight that have *always* existed in state governments — an odd approach if efficiency is truly the goal.
April 1, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Like the federal DOGE effort, most state versions are not actual government agencies, but task forces or committees with dubious enforcement authority but broad power to determine their own scope of work in recommending cuts to public funding.
thehill.com/homenews/sta...
thehill.com
April 1, 2025 at 4:24 PM
At best, this state push is an effort for conservative leaders to trade on the recognizable DOGE name while promoting cuts they already wanted to see in their states.

At worst, it’s a bandwagon effort to cut public services & equity efforts regardless of community impact.
April 1, 2025 at 4:24 PM
At least 15 states have now established their own DOGEs — headed by conservative lawmakers and handpicked business interests — despite many already having government efficiency panels and watchdogs in place.
stateline.org/2025/02/04/r...
Red states create their own DOGE efforts to cut state government • Stateline
Red states are echoing President Donald Trump’s quest to slash the size and cost of the federal government with their own initiatives aimed at making government smaller and more efficient.
stateline.org
April 1, 2025 at 4:24 PM