SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

FOA applications are typically reviewed by a merit review panel (non-Federal employees) then by a Federal panel. The merit reviewers all make comments and rank the applications, then meet to discuss their comments and come to a consensus score. The Federal panel does the same thing and often has to painstakingly review and edit the merit review panel results to resolve confusing or conflicting comments. This comment... more »

Travel costs associated with personnel transfers and government travel are an immense expense to our taxpayers.

Some of our personnel transfers are unfortunately the victims of sexual harassment, assault, hazing or other issues associated with command climate. Taxpayers should be made aware of these situations by a form of notification such as a military report that is distributed to an online type forum with names... more »

The waste of tax dollars on using contracted airlines and their fares seems to be exobedent. I realize we pay a premium so we don't have restrictions or so that we can cancel without penalty. However, in a recent example our government airfare from Charlotte to DC ws $1400. The advertised fare was $340. I could ahve changed that flight multiple times, paid the penalties and still not have paid as much as I would have... more »

The cost of training each and every employee is extremely high and I believe that there is a better, more cost efficient way of doing things. Currently, the Government sends each employee to their required training, paying for their flight, hotel and per diem. For a two week course, this can easily be $5000 per person. If there are 20 people in this class, then the cost is $100,000 plus the cost of the instructors... more »

Terminate the contract with GovTrip. It is an impossible website to navigate and probably costs millions of dollars in frustrated staff time. Switch to a simple, easy-to-use system.

Most often, we have travel agents coordinating our government travel which at times cost much more than what I could find on my own using my own search-- I am always amazed how government rates for airfares just as an example,cost at times 3x more than the internet fares. How about giving us the option to choose whether or not we want the travel agent to coordinate travel for us vs. just giving us a lump sum (a predetermined... more »

We make many maintenance trips. Due to a reluctance of management to approve overnight travel, we are forced to make multiple short trips. This inefficiency costs a great deal of money in fuel and reduces productivity due to so much time spent driving as opposed to staying and having that much more time to work. Require workload evaluation of trips to get management thinking more in terms of what is really the better... more »

I have been working for the US Coast Guard for nearly 13 years now, and as an attorney I have a fair amount of work-related travel. We are required to book travel through a contracted travel agency (SATO), and each and every reservation costs $28.50. I am sure that this adds up to quite a lot agency-wide, and I suspect that other agencies have similar mandates.

My suggestion is that we abolish this requirement entirely,... more »

All governmental organizations either currently have or are in the process of activating a SharePoint online Virtual Work Environment (VWE). More impetus needs to be placed on activation and utilization of these environments in an effort to truly 'do more with less' as well as creating a capability to implement their mandated telework capabilities and paper work reduction mandates. This one system will allow every organization... more »

Raise Taxes on Companies like NIKE that Outsource Work. Then offer tax advantages for companies that keep work in U.S. This could end our budget crisis with revenue it would bring in. We bring jobs to with companies that come back to U.S. with there jobs.

As much as we love the thought of telecommuting, I feel that there are some situations where it is abused. For example, working from the home when one has an hour or two commute can be beneficial of saving office space, helping out an employee who is sick, and saving lots of gas money. However, telecommuting from the other side of the country, and having the government pay your travel (to include air, hotel, per diem)... more »

To appropriately reflect the actual cost of travel and to discourage unnecessary travel, change the per diem rates so that travelers do not eat for free and make a profit. When a Government worker is not on travel they have to pay for their own meals--either at home or if they eat out. Therefore, when a Government worker is on travel the cost of their meals that they would normally pay for when they are home should... more »

I am presently reimbursed at 51 cents per mile to use of my privately owned automobile and would like to instead sometimes be reimbursed at 10 cents per mile to use my privately owned bicycle. Add bicycles to the list of reimbursable mileage rates or otherwise fund its use. My bike, tires, maintenance, and riding gear have costs, yet i reduce the higher societal costs of fuel demand, traffic control, pollution, road maintenance,... more »

Recognize that POV travel is less expensive than GOV travel, and reimburse appropriately. A new AAA study shows the cost to own and operate a sedan rose nearly 2 cents a mile to 58.5 cents per mile. As a high-mileage driver the government had been reimbursing me (to use my POV for government business) 19 cents per mile, which is down from the 28.5 cents per mile that was reimbursed in prior years (while actual costs have... more »

The government should create “Federal Work Centers” that are non-agency-specific, located throughout Maryland, Virginia and DC. These government office buildings would provide work-spaces for the thousands of Federal employees who do not specifically need to work at their agency’s headquarters. Federal Work Centers would save money by enabling government employees to work at locations within 2 or 3 miles from their... more »