SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

This is a charge that is long overdue. Why is it that I can request as many records as I want at one time without paying a penny for it? The least they could do is charge $1.00 or $2.00 per record. I know it's not much and I would be willing to pay the charge. Let NARA start earning some money off of it's holdings instead of giving things away for free. After all they charge exhorbitant fees to request Civil War... more »

Currently there is no charge for a Social Security number (SSN) and card. If I have to pay a fee to get a driver's license or ID, why are SSN cards free?

My suggestion is to implement a $150 fee for new SSN cards and a $200 fee for replacement cards. All income from these fees will be allocated to the Social Security Trust Fund.

I find this to be a minimal fee when you take into account that most people only get a... more »

Filing fees, court costs, opposing lawyer fees should all be paid by the loser to reduce the number of frivolous law suits filed.

Federal buldings and Post Offices would be great places for the public to pick up government forms and publications, even if the agency they are looking for is not resident. A kiosk that can print forms on demand similar to a Redbox dvd vendor would do the job. Such a machince could be used to collect fees as well.

We should look into raising the I-94 permit price of $6 dollars to $20 or more. We only charge $6 dollars and the permit is valid for 6 months. Mexican immigration charges visitors $45 dollars for permission to enter Mexico for 3 months. Not only that, but visitors also need to pay $400 dollars for there vehicle to get a permit as well in order to enter the interior of Mexico. Why don't we do the same? H- workers should... more »

Imagine an iTunes's store of Library of Congress recordings. .pdf files of maps and reports. These treasures are underutilized. Funds raised this way could help in restoration efforts

Don't put limits on who we can purchase from. You give us this tiny list with a few vendors. They can charge us outrageous sums for stuff I could get for 70% less on Amazon or some other online retailer or even at my own onsite retail store.
In my service, I needed to buy HDMI cables for 12 TVs... they were almost 20.00 apiece. Amazon was having a sale for same quality and length cords for .98 plus 3.98 S&H. I could have... more »

We are waisting manpower and resources by manually taking fees at each Immigration Office. USCIS is making forms electronic for processing, and the fees must be the same. The applicant should apply and pay the fees at the website by adding the secure pay site. This would save (at a minimum) on personnel (5), resources (paper/processing, training, machines & purchase and maintenance per USCIS Field Office. This eliminates... more »

With as many movies as there are about the government and federal agencies, there should be a tax charged to the entertainment industry for using "real life agencies" such as the CIA or FBI in their films. Any time a movie or TV show is produced, the government should reserve the right to charge the filmmaker or production studio a fee or tax for use of the title being protrayed in the film. This could potentially bring... more »

Institute annual membership fees of $ 5.00 per individual and $ 10.00 per family to help generate income for libraries. Libraries have grown and most offer internet, computer services and movie check outs. All of these services plus all of the books and librarians and lastly the cost of the building maintenance aren't free to run.

The government should charge a fee of $ 100.00 for every first time divorce and $ 200.00 for any second or third time filed. Thousands of people divorce every day. This cost could contribute towards adjusting Social Security Cards and other documentation as well as increase revenue without having to tax others.

Problem: While GSA’s government-wide travel policies permit Federal employees to take advantage of airlines’ retail sale prices, because the employee must assume risks of cancellation or change fees, employees rarely take advantage of sale ticket prices which are far below the refundable GSA City Pair program fare prices. While city pair fares save as much as 70 percent, that savings is measured against retail fully... more »

Federal tenants within GSA leased space (approximately 191,400,000 rsf) pay for police and emergency response through taxes as a part of their rent, but also pay a Basic Security Charge of .66 cents prsf to DHS/FPS, amounting to $126,324,000 a year. In such spaces the local police are the primary/first responders and as such the federal government should not be paying double. Eliminate this cost to tenants in leased... more »

With the amount of grants and loans the government gives to students we could stucture it better to pay for more individuals to complete college with less debt and a better outcome after graduation. Currently we are giving students loans and grants over and above their college cost. We should be paying directly to the school only for the amount of tuition, books, fees, and necessary materials. Currently we give students... more »

Fee booths at universities and hospitals have had a proven record of savings by getting a coin or ticket to enter/exit the parking lots.

Currently, there are manned booths to "enter" the Park or Forest and that costs more money to pay the rotating shifts of people while holding up the line of people who enter with questions of what they will be going to see. It would be best to get the people parked and then go into... more »