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This bill would authorize the head of a federal agency to pay a cash award to any employee whose identification of unnecessary expenses resulted in cost savings for the agency. The maximum dollar amount of such an award would be increased from $10,000 to $20,000. Current law only allows Inspectors General (IG) to pay bonuses for federal workers who identify waste, fraud, or mismanagement of funds.

If the agency’s Chief Financial Officer determines that the potential unnecessary expenses identified by the employee meet applicable, the unnecessary funds would be transferred to the Treasury’s general fund to be used to reduce the deficit or federal debt (if there’s no current deficit). An agency head wouldn’t be able to retain more than 10 percent of amounts transferred to the general fund.

Certain federal employees would be ineligible for the cash awards, including:

An officer serving in a position at level I of the Executive Schedule;
The head of an agency;
An officer or employee of the Office of the Inspector General of an agency;
A commissioner, board member, or other voting member of an independent establishment.

","official_title":"To amend title 5, United States Code, to enhance the authority under which Federal agencies may pay cash awards to employees for making cost saving disclosures, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act of 2019","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that enacting this bill wouldn’t increase spending or significantly reduce the federal budget.","impact":"Federal employees who identify unnecessary expenses; federal agencies; and the Treasury.","argument_for":"Federal agencies should make a concerted effort to find ways to save taxpayer money, and increasing cash bonuses for employees who identify unnecessary expenses will get them proactively involved in that effort.","argument_against":"There’s no reason to broaden the cash bonus program for federal employees who identify unnecessary costs — such awards are already available through agencies’ Office of the Inspector General on a smaller scale.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr454-116","bill_id":"hr454-116","formal_id":"H.R. 454","chamber":"house","congress":116,"last_action_at":"2019-01-10T00:00:00.000Z","active":false,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":null,"debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/454","plain_text_url":null,"shareable_image_url":"https://n.countable.us/share-images/bills/hr454-116.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/454/text","is_current_congress":true,"last_version_on":null,"related_bill_ids":null,"progress":"Introduced","house_passage_result":false,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":529,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Oversight and Reform","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSGO","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr454-116","details":"/api/bills/hr454-116/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr454-116","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr454-116/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr454-116/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":1,"slug":"hr454-116-bonuses-for-cost-cutters-act-of-2019","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":2768,"yea_vote_count":1474,"nay_vote_count":1291,"passed_house":false,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["government"],"issue_ids":["budgets","government","transparency"],"sponsor_id":422}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"budgets","name":"Budgets","slug":"budgets","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Budgets. 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Increasing Cash Bonuses for Federal Employees Who Identify Unnecessary Spending