Federal workers show how to SAVE the government money

If you want ideas on how to save money, ask the people who spendit.

That's what President Obama did when he began the SAVE Awards twoyears ago.

SAVE is one of those terms that sounds like someone came up witha smart acronym, then searched for words to fit it. It stands forSecuring Americans' Value and Efficiency - a bureaucratic mouthful.The shorter version also is appropriate, because federal employeesrecommended more than 18,000 ways Uncle Sam can save money throughthe SAVE program. About 20 were incorporated into Obama's proposedbudget for fiscal 2012. The Office of Management and Budget expectsthe ideas to save $867.5 million through 2015.

Trudy Givens, a Bureau of Prisons employee from Portage, Wis.,submitted the winning suggestion. Like many of the other ideas,Givens's suggestion is so simple, yet so effective, you wonder whySam didn't think of it earlier.

Her idea: Send the Federal Register - a daily compendium ofgovernment regulations and notices - to federal employees online,rather than by snail mail, with an estimated savings of $16 millionthrough 2015.

"In 2010, there were more than 4,700 subscriptions across theentire Federal Government. Based on Government Printing Officeestimates, this proposed reduction would save taxpayers up to $4million (annually) in postage and printing costs," according to thebudget proposal.

I wanted to speak with Givens but couldn't reach her. Sheexplained how she developed her suggestion in a White House video:"The Federal Register is all online now. It's easily accessible tolook things up. By the time we get the hard copy we've alreadyresearched what we need to see."

Unfortunately, Givens, a business administrator at the FederalCorrectional Institution in Oxford, Wis., won't get a cut of themillions her idea will save. But she did have an Oval Office meetingwith the president, who signed a certificate honoring her.

"Your mom, she just has common sense," Obama told Givens's 12-year-old daughter, Jessica, who was with her mom and dad, LanceGivens, at the White House. Trudy and Lance are 19-year veterans ofthe Bureau of Prisons.

Even more important than the winning idea "is the change ofculture," Jeff Zients, the president's chief performance officer,said on the video. Obama's meeting with Givens "sends a real signalto the federal workforce that the president believes that the bestideas for improving efficiency, saving money, making the governmentmore effective exists on the front line. And that culture change,where there's a recognition that's where the best ideas are, is themost sustainable way to improve government service."

The Internet is going to be a big part of that. In addition toGivens's idea, two of the other four finalists also suggested usingthe Web to increase efficiency and save money.

Paul Behe, a paralegal specialist for the Homeland SecurityDepartment in Cleveland, suggested advertising property seized byCustoms and Border Protection online instead of in newspapers.That's not good for the ailing newspaper industry, but the OMB pegsthe government savings through 2015 at $5 million.

"After having processed the advertising for the Cleveland PortOffice, I thought there had to be a more efficient way to complywith the statutes," which require print advertising, Behe said by e-mail. "We used to process advertising for the Department of Justiceand when I stopped seeing their advertising requests, I contactedthe local offices and found that they were advertising online."

Thomas Koenning, of Littleton, Colo., works for the Mine Safetyand Health Administration's (MSHA) Information Technology Center andsuggested requiring mining companies to use online reporting forms.

"Although mine operators and contractors are required byregulation to file quarterly data with MSHA, the agency is notrequired to mail the multi-part forms each quarter," said Koenningvia e-mail. "The forms are mailed as a courtesy."

Estimated savings, $302,000 by 2015.

The other finalist was Marjorie Cook, a Gobles, Mich., foodinspector with the Agriculture Department. Labs send emptycontainers, that once contained samples, to the department usingovernight delivery. Cook suggested saving money by having theempties returned by regular ground delivery. That will save morethan $1 million through 2015, according to the budget plan.

A million here, a million there - it adds up.

"It's really encouraging that Washington is, you know, requestingand implementing some of these ideas," Givens said, "because what wesee everyday isn't something that people in Washington are seeing."