HARRISBURG – Gov. Tom Corbett announced yesterday that the Governor’s Innovation Office has worked with state agencies to achieve more than $400 million in cost savings and productivity gains.
“Innovation is a key part of our efforts to reform state government and protect taxpayer dollars,” Corbett said. “By finding ways to do things better, more efficiently or at less cost, we are helping to keep money in the pockets of hard working Pennsylvanians.”
The office was created in March 2012 to focus on initiatives to reduce spending, boost productivity and improve service. To date, the office and state agencies have completed 165 initiatives. There are an additional 147 projects in progress.
Recent highlights include:
- County Inmate/Unemployment Compensation Cross-Match – Developed by the Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) and the Office of Administration’s PA Justice Network, this automated system compares the names of inmates in county prisons to unemployment compensation records maintained by L&I. For the first quarter of 2013, incarceration stops were placed on just over 4,000 claims resulting in an estimated savings of more than $100 million.
- Shared Laboratory Facility – PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission are proceeding with plans to build a shared laboratory facility near Somerset, for a combined savings of $750,000.
- Online Document Filing – The Environmental Hearing Board implemented a new system to allow documents associated with legal cases to be filed electronically. As a result, 80 percent of the board’s filings are now done online, saving more than $115,000 in its first year.
- Electronic Notifications – The Department of Education now notifies school districts electronically when payments owed to charter schools will be deducted from their state funding, saving more than $64,000 annually in paper, postage and staff time.
Visit www.innovation.pa.gov to learn more about innovation in state government and submit your own idea to cut costs, increase efficiency or enhance service.