28 votes
If 50% of the population pay little or no federal taxes, then 50% of the people won't give a darn how much money the federal government spends, and in fact probably want the federal government to spend more. Some kind of National Sales Tax is the only fair and rational and workable way to ensure EVERYBODY pays something and therefore EVERYBODY would have a stake in government spending.
24 votes
Instead of printing any Time and Attendance (TnA) document, some time even 3 sheets time 3 or 4 times (for distribution), adding any SF71 to it.... Do them electronically, store them and process them online. Some organization has and can process them via the mainframe financial institution or online secure services. There is no need to print them out, they all can be processed, verified and certified ELECTRONICALLY; ...more »
Instead of printing any Time and Attendance (TnA) document, some time even 3 sheets time 3 or 4 times (for distribution), adding any SF71 to it.... Do them electronically, store them and process them online.
Some organization has and can process them via the mainframe financial institution or online secure services.
There is no need to print them out, they all can be processed, verified and certified ELECTRONICALLY; here is the amount an employee can print every 2 weeks:
1- One copy for the employee,
2- Make another copy for the supervisor
3- And then another for the Admin or budget person to verify the entries.
4- If there is one error the cycle starts again, and you end up 2 or 3 time the initial amout printed originally.
ONE PERSON could generate 12 sheets or more just for each pay period (this assuming there is no mistake and the forms need to be printed again).... you can do the numbers, if you have 1000's employees.
Save more,,,,do less waste... Lets go paperless….
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22 votes
Make Congress responsible by forcing them to pass a budget in a timely manner and which reduces the federal deficit.
21 votes
Restructure the Earned Income Credit laws so it is only available to parents and legal guardians. It has become an income source for extended family members and friends that don’t even know the child’s birthday but claim they support the child. Also the Earned Income Credit should not be retroactive for three years to anyone who did not have a valid Social Security Number, especially if the taxpayer has not previously ...more »
Restructure the Earned Income Credit laws so it is only available to parents and legal guardians. It has become an income source for extended family members and friends that don’t even know the child’s birthday but claim they support the child. Also the Earned Income Credit should not be retroactive for three years to anyone who did not have a valid Social Security Number, especially if the taxpayer has not previously filed taxes. The credit should be restricted to the year the Social Security Number is received.
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21 votes
A solution to save on fuel costs would be for Institutions to use push mowers instead of gasoline operated mowers. Not only does the government save money for fuel and maintenancer, but inmates are afforded health benefits by pushing the mowers, maintaining their physical fitness. Additionally, the environmental impact is aided in less carbon emisions.
20 votes
Government issued documents contain Federal jargon that is difficult for the public who we serve, and Federal employees to understand. Eliminate the wordy writings of Federal issued documents and start using plain language.
This goes for all forms, form instructions, reports, briefing papers, media releases...everything!
20 votes
Each Federal position should have an Employee Development Plan attached to it. This plan would consist of education, experiential training, and other tasks and goals designed to help the employee become more proficient at their current job, and also prepare them for promotion to higher-level positions. This would make government more efficent in three ways: agencies would have a viable, powerful tool for succession ...more »
Each Federal position should have an Employee Development Plan attached to it. This plan would consist of education, experiential training, and other tasks and goals designed to help the employee become more proficient at their current job, and also prepare them for promotion to higher-level positions.
This would make government more efficent in three ways: agencies would have a viable, powerful tool for succession planning; employees would be encouraged and rewarded for high acheivement; and burnt-out or unsuccessful employees could be replaced with higher-performing ones.
Succession planning in many agencies is limited at best, and training dollars are often the first to be cut from a program's budget. However, there are shortages of talent for many necessary Federal positions. If each employee has training and development written into their position, agencies could be better prepared for the future, and more likely to make an investment in their staff. Agencies would be actively developing their future leadership, and employees would see clear opportunities for an ambitious career path in the Federal government.
Opportunities for education, promotion, and personal development would attract many high-performing and ambitious workers. A continuous focus on high acheivement, rather that taking the safe route and doing "good enough", would encourage staff to bring new ideas forward and seek out ways to make their agencies perform better.
Requiring employees to stay active in their own development, and having Progress Reviews every 3-5 years, would allow managers to make performance-based decisions to reward high achievers, and release workers who are stagnant or unsatisfactory. Concrete, objective standards would give employees clear goals to work towards.
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20 votes
The Fed needs to reform hiring practices for gov employees. They need to hire the most qualified candidates and remove preferences for vet/ethnicity/sex. If they continue to hire people for any other reason than those people being the most qualified, they will get what they seek. Preference for certain groups should come in the form of recruitment and application support, not additional points that may knock more qualified ...more »
The Fed needs to reform hiring practices for gov employees. They need to hire the most qualified candidates and remove preferences for vet/ethnicity/sex. If they continue to hire people for any other reason than those people being the most qualified, they will get what they seek.
Preference for certain groups should come in the form of recruitment and application support, not additional points that may knock more qualified candidates out of the running for a position.
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18 votes
Federal agencies should be utilizing the same automated systems for certain administrative processes. For example, personnel actions. There are several different systems used throughout the government for HR related matters. The IRS uses HRConnect, USDA uses EmpowerHR, etc. It would be more cost effective to have all agencies utilize one system for position management, and personnel and payroll actions. Other systems ...more »
Federal agencies should be utilizing the same automated systems for certain administrative processes. For example, personnel actions. There are several different systems used throughout the government for HR related matters. The IRS uses HRConnect, USDA uses EmpowerHR, etc. It would be more cost effective to have all agencies utilize one system for position management, and personnel and payroll actions. Other systems that should be standardized accross agencies are travel reimbursement systems, procurement systems and time and attendance systems. Instead of having several different contractors developing and maintaining these functions in different agencies we would have one, the savings would be enormous
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18 votes
The DHS is a morass of redundant and inefficient agencies and offices with overlapping authorities and functions wasting billions of dollars for nothing more than illogical and ill-conceived fiefdoms. Specifically ICE and CBP should be merged into one streamlined border department as was originally envisioned using the legacy U.S. Customs Service as the model of efficiency and bang for the buck.
17 votes
This dialog is a terrific idea! Federal employees should be a great source for identifying ways to make the government work more effectively. But is this exercise, in itself, a waste of time and resources? Hopefully not! However, some federal employee (or federal contractor) took time to plan and create this site. There will be potentially thousands of posts by federal employees who likely used duty time to compose ...more »
This dialog is a terrific idea! Federal employees should be a great source for identifying ways to make the government work more effectively. But is this exercise, in itself, a waste of time and resources? Hopefully not!
However, some federal employee (or federal contractor) took time to plan and create this site. There will be potentially thousands of posts by federal employees who likely used duty time to compose them. Someone is taking time to monitor the site for inappropriate posts. Someone will take a lot of time to compile the posts and the many thousands of related comments.
So. Will the ideas in this dialogue be complied and structured in a usable format? Will federal employees, and those reading the posts, receive any summary of the results? Will the information be presented to the people with the influence and power to implement change? And MOST IMPORTANTLY, will federal employees and the public see any ACTION or CHANGE as a result of this dialog? If not, it has simply contributed to the ineffectiveness of the federal government and been a wasteful use of scare resources.
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15 votes
I like most ideas on this website. I think that most ideas have come from somebody who is trying to do a great job at what they do. It has become so difficult to navigate through that, I have decided to take 15 minutes out of my day to dedicate to this at home on my own time. I believe that the top 25 contributors and top 25 idea submitters should be invited to bring their heads together and discuss what is really ...more »
I like most ideas on this website. I think that most ideas have come from somebody who is trying to do a great job at what they do.
It has become so difficult to navigate through that, I have decided to take 15 minutes out of my day to dedicate to this at home on my own time.
I believe that the top 25 contributors and top 25 idea submitters should be invited to bring their heads together and discuss what is really important to their agency and to the federal government as a whole.
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14 votes
Equipment CONSOLIDATION and Re-UTILIZATION First come first served. Someone’s trash or excess is someone’s treasure (items needed for another office / or site.) We need to start sharing our knowledge of what we have in excess and what we can donate, exchange, or give away; this could be done within the organization we all resides / or working with…. 1- Each department can provide an equipment list of excess, unused ...more »
Equipment CONSOLIDATION and Re-UTILIZATION First come first served.
Someone’s trash or excess is someone’s treasure (items needed for another office / or site.)
We need to start sharing our knowledge of what we have in excess and what we can donate, exchange, or give away; this could be done within the organization we all resides / or working with….
1- Each department can provide an equipment list of excess, unused or not desire equipment.
2- This list can be consolidated as a good faith estimate for property disposal - but not to be disposed of as scrap or as unserviceable items to your local supply or DRMO (Demilitarized Reutilization Marketing Office) or via disposition under form SF120, or disposal of to “Area 51.”
3- Have 2 Goods-Assets Offices (a logistics office or a Central point of distribution):
a- a Non-Information Technology (IT) or Office Furniture -- Have an office to store or coordinate the excess of furniture equipment - for utilization whiting the Agency; and after 6 or 12 moths the equipment can go on a SF120 for other agencies to take advantage.
b- An Information Technology Equipment -- Have an Office in charge of reporting all of the excess Information Technology Equipment. There is so many unopened or boxed up electronic equipment, cables, parts, magnetic media, ect out there that it can be realigned.
Example 1 --- Maybe someone has a piece of switch / router equipment, or let said a Printer or keyboard, for example it could be transferred to someone in needs of printers or networking communication equipment. And this could start within the office Organization. The cost related to this scenario; as stated before someone needs a $25,000 or $65,000 Cisco 4600 Switch with 192 Giga-Ethernet ports and fiber ports. The equipment could be transferred to the office needing the upgrade without the need of spending almost $80,000 on Switches and this kind of sort of equipment.
Example 2 --- Someone is conducting a program and there is a project of changing cables on the switches and converting this old Cat5 to Cat6 cabling, because the new technology is booming and the office is going to have Voice-over-IP technology. There was an office down the street that has excess of Cat6 cables and connectors sitting in a corner for the last 2 years. The IT Office Reutilization tapped and has the knowledge of this equipment, and then the Cable could be transferred to the NEW Project office for optimizing the network with Voice-over-IP system. The cost scenario here, someone needs 300 patch cables at approximately $15.00 a piece. The total here is $4,500 in just cables (upgrading the infrastructure to CAT6 only.)
Remember some of this part can last a long time; cables, parts, magnetic media (usually this magnetic storage media is good for 30 or 40 years.)
The question is: How many of you have some of them, knowingly that someone could benefit from it.
see other ideas here:
http://governmentreform.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Wind-turbine-and-Solar-Panels/122931-13060
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14 votes
Government agencies receive an appropriations bill, voted on by Congress, which allows them to be dictated by representatives of states who may not have the best interest for their respective agency. Allowing government agencies the ability to generate revenue, like the USPS, will make them relevant, more competitive globally, and reduce their burden on the taxpayers. How? Simple, the taxpayers will pay for what they ...more »
Government agencies receive an appropriations bill, voted on by Congress, which allows them to be dictated by representatives of states who may not have the best interest for their respective agency. Allowing government agencies the ability to generate revenue, like the USPS, will make them relevant, more competitive globally, and reduce their burden on the taxpayers. How? Simple, the taxpayers will pay for what they need. Which means the government agencies which are needed will survive and the ones which are surplus will be removed (supply and demand). An example is the USPS, without the internet their was a high demand for their service. With the internet, this demand is decreasing and as such so should their role.
To ensure government agencies are competitive, efficient, and utilize taxpayers money to the greatest extent make their lively hood based on the taxpayer as a consumer.
If you have any additional ideas to improve on this idea, please post them. I probably don't have the best one because two heads are always better than one ;).
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14 votes
I am bringing this idea because I have seen government electric bills running too high- exceeding the $15,000 per month average for a 30,000 to 40,000 sq. ft. building. The current setting for government office air conditioning (AC) is set too low. Some offices have the AC too low in summer and too high in winter. Employees have to wear jackets in the summer at the offices and remove their sweater or dress coat in winter ...more »
I am bringing this idea because I have seen government electric bills running too high- exceeding the $15,000 per month average for a 30,000 to 40,000 sq. ft. building.
The current setting for government office air conditioning (AC) is set too low. Some offices have the AC too low in summer and too high in winter. Employees have to wear jackets in the summer at the offices and remove their sweater or dress coat in winter because the heat setting is too high.
Even today, in these days, the civilian and local business offices have controlled their HVAC to appropriate temperature without affecting operation.
Here is how to save energy and government funds by controlling the AC / Heating (HVAC) temperature and cutting off one hour of AC/Heating a day. When the operation of the office is not a 24/7 operation, the HVAC could even be turned off for 3 to 4 hours at night and /or Saturday, Sunday and holidays. The energy consumption would drop, thus savings in the energy bill would be reflected dramatically. This technique has been tested by some public energy services in different cities across the nation.
My recommendation is to have this tested at different government offices at different zoning areas and analyze the trend and production when controlling the AC and heating to different moderate temperatures. Below is a check list with some but not limited key points:
1—Set AC to 79 -81 degrees in summer or very warm temperatures.
2 – Set heat to 69-70 degrees in winter or very cool temperatures.
3 – Provide 1 hour per day to turn off the HVAC for major consumption areas. Some energy companies offer these services in exchange for a new remote control thermostat. Why not bring this to the government buildings?
4 – Turn off HVAC system for 3 to 4 hours at night for offices that are not 24/7 and 16 hours for Saturday, Sunday and holidays on offices that are not 24/7/365.
5 – Power buildings to high temperature cooling system and to low temperature heating system when building is not occupied.
6 - Ensure computers and LAN rooms (requiring a colder environment) operate on a dedicated AC unit system. These areas may be excluded for the 1 hour power-off – energy saving program.
See other ideas.
http://governmentreform.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Wind-turbine-and-Solar-Panels/122931-13060
http://governmentreform.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Equipment-CONSOLIDATION-and-ReUTILIZATION/123337-13060
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14 votes
Our taxes go to the pay of Supreme Court Justices. Our children need to see them in attendance at any State of the Union Address. Each justice must be present. This is Our Government made visible--to the entire nation and to the the world. The arrogance of three or four of the nine not in attendance is something that should not be tolerated. One justice said they were like bumps on a log. Well, that is one person's made-up ...more »
Our taxes go to the pay of Supreme Court Justices.
Our children need to see them in attendance at any State of the Union Address. Each justice must be present. This is Our Government made visible--to the entire nation and to the the world.
The arrogance of three or four of the nine not in attendance is something that should not be tolerated. One justice said they were like bumps on a log. Well, that is one person's made-up perception--change your perception. Remember that someone is in a foxhole, that person would wish to be a bump on a log. If SOTU addresses bore you, you shouldn't have taken the job. Arrogance of the first rank, you were given the job because we thought you could be bi-partisan. Obviously they are not going to police themselves on this issue. The American people must demand it.
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14 votes
One Day Off or Furlough for one day starting from the top down to military and civilians. This idea would save the Government and the U.S.A. Nation funds on a yearly basis. The idea is spreading the furlough to all Government and Military but NOT at the SAME TIME. For God sake what is this government Idea on FURLOUGH EVERY ONE AT THE SAME TIME. I am putting this on bullets for simplicity, so the idea can be escalated ...more »
One Day Off or Furlough for one day starting from the top down to military and civilians.
This idea would save the Government and the U.S.A. Nation funds on a yearly basis. The idea is spreading the furlough to all Government and Military but NOT at the SAME TIME. For God sake what is this government Idea on FURLOUGH EVERY ONE AT THE SAME TIME. I am putting this on bullets for simplicity, so the idea can be escalated accordingly and steps can be added or removed.
1- Spread the furlough to Government employees and military to only one DAY (a day off without pay) but distributing the load to different employees at different time frame (not all at the same time.)
2- Starting from the President down to the Vice-President, Congressman, Senate everybody would received a day off without pay.
3- On the other hand, the same for all Military branches, starting from the top down, one day off without pay for generals, commanders, officers, and enlisted. Everyone will take it but not at the same time.
4- PAY Roll has to be set up to accommodate for this day off ensuring the day is not pay accordingly to the proposal. And not like few years ago when EVERYONE was off and EVERYONE still received payment for the days off. A nice free vacation with payment included.
5- We all need to remember, even if the president does not receive pay for one day, he is still the president with decision to make on HIS DAY OFF. And same thing with every military commander, pretty much they all giving a day off without pay but their executive officer or next in the change of command will be incharged.
6- There is always a backup plan when 25 or 50% of an outfit organization is off duty, the other 50% takes over and performs the function of the office. As the norm when a supervisor is off the next level supervisor takes charge until current supervisor comes back.
7- Do this for one year, equally shared to all branches of the government and military. Analyze the cost saving and if it works and does not hurt anyone, make it a proposal and mandate to future years.
8- This also can be implemented to States Government hierarchy.
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13 votes
Reward each U.S. Governmental Agency that does not spend every dollar that was budgeted and appropriated for by allowing them to save the money at the end of the fiscal year. This money could go into a centralized US Government investment account. Recommend rewarding agencies that come in under budget with a recognition program based on the amount of money they saved proportional to their overall budget. Allow Agencies ...more »
Reward each U.S. Governmental Agency that does not spend every dollar that was budgeted and appropriated for by allowing them to save the money at the end of the fiscal year. This money could go into a centralized US Government investment account. Recommend rewarding agencies that come in under budget with a recognition program based on the amount of money they saved proportional to their overall budget. Allow Agencies to save up their money and use it on a project or resource they really need in the future. Recommend not factoring savings amounts into their future budget either. The money that is saved/generated off of interest could go into paying off the national deficit, U.S. Savings Bonds, Social Security, etc. By rewarding Agencies for saving money it promotes an environment that rewards fiscal mindedness. If all agencies are promoting and participating, little savings and big savings alike will add up quickly. You could title it the "Investing in America Savings Program."
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13 votes
Create greater balance between the US tax revenue generated in areas involving import tariffs and US corporate tax rate to fight export of US jobs, by: -Increasing tariffs on foreign imports. -Decreasing corporate tax on US companies. -Offering incentives to companies that keep a higher percentage of positions employed by US citizens. Correctly implemented reform in those areas can increase our GNI and successfully ...more »
Create greater balance between the US tax revenue generated in areas involving import tariffs and US corporate tax rate to fight export of US jobs, by:
-Increasing tariffs on foreign imports.
-Decreasing corporate tax on US companies.
-Offering incentives to companies that keep a higher percentage of positions employed by US citizens.
Correctly implemented reform in those areas can increase our GNI and successfully maintain/increase our high level of foreign trade.
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13 votes
Have a review of tenure for all government employees every five years. Underperforming employees will have six months to a year to improve performance or they will be terminated. (Yes, I am a government employee of 10 years and I like my job and enjoy my colleagues. But we are all frustrated by the "dead wood" that accumulates, particularly close to retirement, and the lack of incentives for these employees to actually ...more »
Have a review of tenure for all government employees every five years. Underperforming employees will have six months to a year to improve performance or they will be terminated.
(Yes, I am a government employee of 10 years and I like my job and enjoy my colleagues. But we are all frustrated by the "dead wood" that accumulates, particularly close to retirement, and the lack of incentives for these employees to actually try and do the jobs they are being paid to do. Let's give them some incentives!!)
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12 votes
What is and what has become "government business"? Trim that which is outside of the parameters of the intended design and purpose of the US government and restore the rights of the people to pursue happiness, live, and have liberty. Many have come to realize the multiple burdensome costs of slipping from constitutionality. Funding cowboy poetry or abortions does not form a more perfect Union or promote the general Welfare ...more »
What is and what has become "government business"? Trim that which is outside of the parameters of the intended design and purpose of the US government and restore the rights of the people to pursue happiness, live, and have liberty. Many have come to realize the multiple burdensome costs of slipping from constitutionality. Funding cowboy poetry or abortions does not form a more perfect Union or promote the general Welfare or secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity in an indebted nation.
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12 votes
Not every agency or even sub-agency is the same. An organization's structure should reflect the work being performed within that agency. Let's face it, administrative oversight is necessary but it is applied like layers of concrete in the USG. It stifles productivity and drains resources. Rather than designing from the top down, work from the bottom up. It might be asking to move a mountain, but there are appealing ...more »
Not every agency or even sub-agency is the same. An organization's structure should reflect the work being performed within that agency. Let's face it, administrative oversight is necessary but it is applied like layers of concrete in the USG. It stifles productivity and drains resources. Rather than designing from the top down, work from the bottom up.
It might be asking to move a mountain, but there are appealing aspects to the idea on both sides of the isle.
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12 votes
Extend the life of the PRINTER – no refreshing in 3 years is needed. The life spam on printers is actually measured by the amount of printouts the printer do in its life, and not because the printer is 3 years old and it needs to be replaced. YOU CAN ENVEN doubled this timeframe, and save cost for the office, the government and the tax payers. For example high-end and network printers has a life spam of 500,000 printouts, ...more »
Extend the life of the PRINTER – no refreshing in 3 years is needed.
The life spam on printers is actually measured by the amount of printouts the printer do in its life, and not because the printer is 3 years old and it needs to be replaced. YOU CAN ENVEN doubled this timeframe, and save cost for the office, the government and the tax payers.
For example high-end and network printers has a life spam of 500,000 printouts, this is approximately 100,000 per year for a total of 5 years. This is assuming the offices print 8350 pages per months. The printer even could last longer that the specified life spam stated by the manufacture. Parts can be replaced, and if the cost of repair exceed 40% of the cost of the printer, then it would not be economical to repair.
On another note, on today’s economy saving there is no need to print as mush as in the way we used to 5 or 10 years ago.
Save energy, do less waste, go paperless and save tax payers money
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12 votes
Unless Congress decides NOT to fund a federal agency, continue it at its current level. That would save billions in all this government shutdown malarkey, and focus Congress on what it really should be doing -- setting policy priorities over how the government spends money.
11 votes
Just as President Obama is using web-based “crowdsourcing” (a cornerstone of Web 2.0) to get ideas for his Government Reform for Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative, Federal offices could use web-based crowdsourcing to share their temporary excess workload with other Federal offices that have temporary excess human capital. For example, an authorized employee with a backlog of audio files that need to be transcribed ...more »
Just as President Obama is using web-based “crowdsourcing” (a cornerstone of Web 2.0) to get ideas for his Government Reform for Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative, Federal offices could use web-based crowdsourcing to share their temporary excess workload with other Federal offices that have temporary excess human capital. For example, an authorized employee with a backlog of audio files that need to be transcribed could post a request for assistance on a secure government-wide or agency-wide website. Another authorized employee, from a different office, with some spare time, could find the request on the website and offer to transcribe the files. Once both parties agree to the match, they would be provided with a secure, web-based virtual workspace, where they could share the files necessary to complete the collaboration. The result is that the audio files could be transcribed for free, instead of having to pay for additional, temporary staff. Individual offices could save tens of thousands of dollars over the course of a year, and entire agencies could save millions.
Requests could be posted that are visible government-wide, or that are visible only within a specified level of the requestor’s organization, depending on security and other sensitivity considerations. Requests could be classified by the skills or clearance necessary for their completion, so employees with excess time can search for and filter requests based on their own skill set and clearance level. Such an arrangement would not work for certain employees or for certain types of employees, and so no employees would be allowed to participate without the approval of their supervisor and could be restricted by their supervisor in the number of hours per pay period during which they could participate.
This proposal is based on the premise that most Federal employees genuinely wish to serve the public to the greatest extent possible, to further the mission of their area, and to go home at the end of each day believing that they made a difference. For that reason, among others (such as the need to avoid incentivizing neglect of one’s primary duties), there would be no financial incentives for employees who contribute their excess time; however, by participating, they will be able to expand the breadth of their knowledge and experience, to take advantage of the latest web-based technologies, to network with other government professionals, and to have a more interesting and fulfilling experience as a Federal employee.
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