The Washington state Productivity Board, a state employee incentive program of the Office of the Secretary of State, voted unanimously on Monday, Dec. 2, to award seven state employees up to $11,971.70 for their ideas to reduce cost or generate revenue for the state, according to a news release.
The Productivity Board encourages all state employees to help save taxpayers’ money by offering up to $10,000 for a successful employee proposal to increase government efficiency. First created by the Legislature in 1982 and reinstated in 2023, the Productivity Board has saved the state millions of dollars, according to a news release from the state.
“It’s inspiring to see the innovation and creativity of state employees to make their government work more efficiently,” Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in the release. “The ideas they generate are saving the state money and improving the services we provide Washingtonians.”
Joshua Chaplo, of the Department of Fish and Wildlife, will receive up to $10,000 for a suggestion that Washington offer specialty vehicle license plates that feature a plain black background and white lettering, often referred to as “blackout” license plates. The proceeds generated by revenue will fund protection efforts for endangered and threatened fish and wildlife species conservation. Chaplo’s suggestion is estimated to generate $5.5 million per year, based on the agency’s evaluation.
Wyatt Hull, of the Department of Corrections, was approved for a $200 recognition award for the suggestion to donate used corrections officer coats to agencies that cannot afford coats or to charities to reduce the department’s destruction or dumping costs. The coats will have the department patches removed prior to donation. A recognition award was approved due to the financial savings being situational.
The Liquor Control Board’s (LCB) Kyle Arvila, Tinaya Smith, Richard O’Grady and Gerard Scheeler and the Office of Administrative Hearing’s (OAH) Beatrice Lupardus will each receive approximately $1,771.70 for their Teamwork Incentive Program suggestion to electronically consolidate each case file’s text and media documents in a searchable document management solution between the LCB’s Board Adjudication Unit and OAH. This solution will improve recordkeeping, make information more accessible, eliminate LCB payment to OAH for additional work performed on each case, and significantly reduce office expenditures of paper, compact discs, mailing materials and other supplies, according to the release.
