How to Create Incentives to Save on Government Travel TDY Lodging Expenses

Excerpt from the Save Award Ideascale website:

"In 2009, President Obama called for “a process through which every government worker can submit their ideas for how their agency can save money and perform better.” The President’s SAVE (Securing Americans’ Value and Efficiency) Award fulfilled this commitment by enabling Federal employees from across the government to submit their ideas for efficiencies and savings as part of the annual Budget process.
Now in 2010, we expanded the process so Federal employees can both submit ideas and vote on ideas submitted by others in a collaborative process."

ISSUE
"Currently OPM per diem rates for travel (TDY) are set so that the lodging rate is a 'use it or lose it' system whereby money not spent on lodging is returned to the government. This fosters an environment where most government travelers don't spend any time looking for the best rate. In fact, in many cases the upper limit is what travelers look for so that they can maximize their frequent traveler program points."

SOLUTION
"The lodging per diem rates can stay the same but make a hybrid solution of the current lodging and M&IE rules so that money spent under the maximum is split between the government and the traveler - perhaps a 50/50 split of the savings. For example, if the lodging in Area A is $100/night and a traveler finds a hotel for $50/night, he would keep $25/night and $25/night would be cost savings to the government."

IMPACT
"Incentivize travelers to find more cost effective lodging with immediate and universal impact of hundreds of millions of dollars per year."


Full Article:  http://saveaward2010.ideascale.com/a/searchPanel.do