Have a great idea to save the government money? Last chance to enter the SAVE award contest

DOT employees have shown me time and again their tremendous commitment to making government work better and more efficiently.  They’ve submitted thousands of ideas on IdeaHub, an online community where employees can post ideas for their colleagues to comment and build upon, since its launch last August.  And they’re never shy about expressing their thoughts at employee town hall meetings.

That’s why as part of the Obama Administration’s ongoing efforts to modernize government, I am pleased to announce the launch of the third annual Securing Americans’ Value and Efficiency (SAVE) Award competition. 

 

Over the past two years, federal employees have submitted more than 56,000 cost-cutting ideas to the Office of Management and Budget for review in the SAVE Award contest. 

And it has made a difference. 

Already, ideas from federal employees are saving hundreds of millions of dollars, rooting out redundancy, waste, and inefficiency, and making government more accountable to the American people. 

The goal this year is simple – to give all federal employees a chance to submit suggestions about how their agency can save money and perform better. 

Look, in this tough economy, every dollar the government can save is important.  The Obama Administration is laser-focused on identifying ways to do more with less, and frontline workers are critical to helping us achieve that goal.

I know DOT employees have great ideas.  If you are a federal employee, please take a minute to submit your idea or vote on others' ideas here before the deadline of Friday, July 29.  It’s that easy!

If you are selected as the winner in this year’s contest, you will be invited to the White House to present your idea to the President, and your idea will be included in the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget.  And, as in previous years, dozens of other good ideas will be included in the President’s next budget submission.

Trudy Givens and her family meet President Obama, White House photo courtesy Pete Souza

Last year’s winner was Trudy Givens, a 20-year employee of the Bureau of Prisons from Wisconsin, who saw that no one was reading the hard copies of the Federal Register delivered to her office each day.  She said it just didn’t make sense to print and send thousands of copies to employees when it’s available online. 

While that may sound small, those costs add up across the federal government, and her idea is expected to save millions of taxpayer dollars each year.

I hope you will take just a minute of your time and put your idea forward.  Let’s show the President and the American people that DOT is a leader in finding smart, creative ways to do more with less.

Comments

[I. Balstad]

Offer long term employees "buy-outs." This would have to be on a case by case basis. However, when benefits, vacations, SL,and retirement accounts are figured into the mix, it could save the government in the long run, and reduce the size of government as well. Saving the tax payer $$.

[daniel donahue]

I think the government should create a donation site that goes directly to our debt. Granted it wouldn't be as big as federal cuts but it would still help a little even if we donated a dollar or two. Thank you!

[Brian L. King]

With the economy at an all time worst, people losing their homes and jobs, unemployment at its highest in many years. I have come up with an answer to help salvage the working class and possibly their sanity as well. First lets start by putting a few dollars back into their paychecks! How? By changing the welfare reform system, there are quit a few people on welfare that are abusing the system (we should be enticing them to get jobs and sustain a household on their own, not giving them an incentive to stay on welfare), while the working class is busting their butts to pay taxes barley surviving themselves, as some welfare recipients live carelessly spending tax payers money at their expense. We can't cut everyone off of welfare but there are some things we can change (to reduce waste, fraud and abuse) to put the tax payers a little more at ease financially. First if you're on welfare you shouldn't receive an income tax check at the end of the year, you got free money all year long and then you get a bigger check than someone working and paying taxes. Second, all the children from parents on welfare should not be loaned out to other people to be used on their taxes to defraud the govt. and get more money back(since there is a limit to how many kids you can claim now). We need to establish a system with their SSN's so that when there are used during income tax time it will create a flag on that account for further investigation. This alone will save the Govt. and tax payers millions and millions of dollars per year. Aslo as a penalty the parent who loaned out their child should be dropped from welfare and have to re-apply for their benifits. Third, homeowners should not be the only people paying school taxes. There are a lot more people out there who have kids in school and this is a burden that we all should contribute too. I beleive this is a start in the right direction, to lessen the burden of the working class and give most of us a piece of mind. Thank you for your time and consideration. Brian L. King