The 2013 SAVE Award

Today, we launched the fifth annual SAVE Award (Securing Americans Value and Efficiency) – a competition for Federal employees to submit their ideas for how to cut waste, save taxpayer dollars, and create a more efficient and effective government.

Borne out of the President’s belief that the best ideas often come from those on the front lines, Federal employees have submitted more than 85,000 ideas over the last four years through the SAVE Award. Recommendations have ranged from implementing new measures that conserve energy to eliminating paper copies of publications that are available online to using ground shipping instead of next-day service when mailing non-urgent packages. 

These simple, yet innovative ideas are already making a difference. The President’s last four budgets have included over 80 SAVE Award proposals that are saving hundreds of millions of dollars and improving the way government operates. We know these ideas alone won’t solve the Nation’s long-term fiscal challenges, but they represent common-sense steps to improve government and provide a better value to the American people.

So, if you’re a Federal employee, go to www.WhiteHouse.gov/save-award and send us your idea on how to save money and create efficiencies within your agency and across government. And everyone else, stay tuned. We’ll be looking to you in the next few months to help us pick a winner!

Steve Posner is the Associate Director for Strategic Planning and Communications in the Office of Management and Budget