Congressman Chuck Fleischmann introduced the Employees of America Streamlining for Your (EASY) Savings Act of 2012 on Wednesday. The bill provides incentives for federal agencies to identify areas where they can save money, and complements a similar bill introduced by Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in the Senate.
“While an alert legislator or government watchdog can certainly identify unused funds, those closest to where the money is spent are best able to find savings. I am pleased to work with Senator Paul on this commonsense legislation which rewards employees who identify wasted or unused funds, and returns the savings to pay down our debt. If an employee identifies inefficiencies or ways to save money in the private sector, they usually get rewarded. It is time for federal agencies to do the same, and to return that savings to the treasury,” Congressman Fleischmann said.
“Under current law, agencies are required to spend all of the money they are allocated and have no incentive to identify areas in the budget where savings could be found. When this occurs, federal agencies with surplus funds must rush to spend the funds before the end of the fiscal year, often on unnecessary purchases,” Senator Paul said. “This bill would reverse the trend toward agency bloat – whereby agencies are appropriated more each year than the previous and grow beyond the size they were intended to be and more responsibly handle taxpayer dollars. I am proud to have Rep. Fleishmann championing this bill in the House and I look forward to its passage.”
At the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a similar 2011 cost savings program yielded 48 employee suggestions for saving money. Three of these suggestions were adopted, and the SEC saved roughly $50,000.