Calling all federal employees with great waste-cutting ideas

The White House is accepting submissions for the fourth annual Securing Americans Value and Efficiency award, a competition for federal employees with new ideas for cutting waste and saving taxpayer dollars.

Previous SAVE participants have suggested a NASA “lending library" to avoid duplicative purchases of expensive tools, providing U.S. code online instead of in printed books and avoiding unnecessary travel. The past three competitions have drawn more than 75,000 entries from government employees nationwide, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

“Already, we’ve begun to see how those ideas can make a difference,” Controller Danny Werfel said Tuesday in a blog post. “The president’s last three budgets included approximately 60 SAVE Award ideas that are helping to save millions.”

Submissions are due by July 24. “Everyone else: stay tuned,” Werfel said. “In the next few months, we’ll be looking to you to help pick this year’s winner!”