Are you a federal employee who knows about unneeded or surplus funding your agency doesn't need? Do you want $10,000 for pointing it out to an inspector general?
A bipartisan group of lawmakers want to give agency inspectors general the ability to grant $10,000 bonuses to federal employees who identify surplus or unneeded funding at their agencies.
The Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act of 2015 attempts to combat the habit of agencies spending all surplus funding at the end of the fiscal year in order to avoid budget reductions the following year, according to bill supports.
The bill is sponsored by Senators Rand Paul. R-Ky., Mark Warner, D-Va., and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo. Paul said the bill helps combat the perverse incentive to spend leftover money by offering employees a positive incentive to help IGs save money.
"The Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act will reduce the federal deficit and reverse the trend toward agency bloat, by combating inefficiency and mismanagement of funds in the government," Paul said.
Enzi said in a statement the law will save significant amounts of money because federal employees closest to these issues are the ones most likely to know about waste.
"It's the people holding the shovel who really know how to solve problems," Enzi said. "The folks responsible for administering individual programs know where the money is, what is needed and what is being wasted,"
Ultimately the bill is designed to encourage agencies to return unspent funding instead of rushing to spend it, Warner said.
"When we empower federal employees to identify surplus funds instead of encouraging the 'use it or lose it' mentality, we are better stewards of taxpayers' dollars," Warner said.
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