How Many Ways Can you Save – Part II
As promised, here are two more proposals House Republicans have offered to President Obama in order to reduce the deficit and save taxpayer’s money.
Terminating Duplicative Education ProgramsThe Department of Education currently administers hundreds of separate education programs. Many of these programs are duplicative of other programs. In many cases, schools have the flexibility to use other federal funds for the purposes of some of these targeted programs. Eliminating duplicative education programs will streamline Federal education initiatives and provide savings. The President recognized this when he proposed terminating several duplicative programs in his budget. Building on the President’s recommendations, additional savings can be achieved by eliminating the following programs:
Eliminating these duplicative programs would save taxpayers $442.8 million in the first year and $2.2 billion over five years.
Eliminate Full-time Union Representatives From Federal Payroll
Under current law, Federal employees who are part of a collective bargaining unit may be granted “official time” to perform representational duties on behalf of the union. While on official time, the employee is paid by the government but is acting on behalf of the union. According to the Office of Personnel Management, in FY 2008 the Federal government spent $120 million paying employees for their time spent working on union activities. While some employees only spend minimal time on union activities, others are designated as 100 percent on official time, meaning they are paid to spend all of their time on union activities. In their report, OPM suggests a significant amount of the time spent on general labor-management category (as opposed to dispute resolution or contract negotiations) is spent by those on 100 percent official time. Eliminating 100 percent official time would save taxpayers millions of dollars each year. Savings of just 10% a year would save taxpayers $12 million next year and $60 million over five years.
