(1) (a) (I) No later than
October 1, 2010, the state personnel director, or his or her designee, shall create
and make publicly available to all employees on the department of personnel's
website an idea application, substantially similar to the Air Force form AF 1000, to
allow employees to suggest state agency improvements that may result in cost
savings at the state agency where the employee works. Each state agency
executive director shall create agency-specific supplemental submission materials
to the idea application if such materials are deemed necessary by the executive
director to manage the submission process. Each state agency shall post such
materials on its respective website.
(II) The idea application shall not be used for ideas that:
(A) Would result from obvious and progressive normal business practices,
such as a foreseeable expectation that the idea would be implemented in a
reasonable time frame as a result of evolving business or industry practice;
(B) Are obvious solutions to mandated budget cuts, such as abolishing
vacant funded positions or reducing staff through layoffs;
(C) Result in cost avoidance as the method of documenting cost savings,
such as no or lowered increases in costs for staff, supplies, or equipment;
(D) Result in revenue enhancement as the method of documenting cost
savings, such as new or increased fees for services; or
(E) Simply shift the cost from one state agency to another.
(b) No later than October 1, 2010, the state personnel director, or his or her
designee, shall establish standard evaluation criteria substantially similar to the
evaluation criteria used to evaluate the Air Force form AF 1000, by which all idea
applications shall be evaluated. The state personnel director, or his or her designee,
shall make such criteria available to all executive directors. Each state agency
executive director may establish additional evaluation criteria specific to his or her
agency if such criteria are deemed necessary by the executive director to manage
the submission process.
(c) (I) Any employee may complete an idea application. For processing, the
employee shall submit the idea application to the executive director of the
employee's state agency. An employee shall not be retaliated against for
submitting an idea application.
(II) The identity of an employee who submits an idea application shall remain
confidential and shall be redacted from the application until the employee has been
determined to be eligible for an honorary award as specified in paragraph (d) of
subsection (4) of this section, except that the identity of the employee may be
made known to the executive director, or his or her designee, for purposes of
obtaining reasonably necessary additional information related to the idea
application.
(III) (A) The executive director, or his or her designee, shall provide
notification of receipt of the idea application to the employee within fifteen days
after submission of such application. The executive director, or his or her designee,
may automatically deny an idea application if he or she deems such application to
be duplicative of another application that was submitted within the prior twelve-month period or duplicative of a recommendation contained in an audit report from
the office of the state auditor or any privately contracted auditor, a joint budget
committee staff document, or any other published evaluation of Colorado state
government. The executive director, or his or her designee, shall provide notice of
an automatic denial within fifteen days pursuant to this sub-subparagraph (A).
(B) The executive director, or his or her designee, shall cause, within forty-five business days from the date of submission of an idea application that was not
automatically denied for reasons listed in this section or agency-specific evaluation
criteria as developed by an executive director, a projected savings calculation to be
made.
(C) The executive director shall respond with a decision either approving or
denying the employee's idea application within sixty business days after the date of
submission of the idea application. For any idea application that is approved, the
executive director, or his or her designee, shall identify, to the extent possible, any
state laws or rules that would need to be changed as part of the review and
approval process. The executive director, or his or her designee, shall submit a
request for legislation to the committee of reference assigned to such executive
director's state agency regarding any approved idea application that requires
legislation for implementation. Idea applications that do not require legislation for
implementation shall be implemented by the state agency as soon as reasonably
possible, and no later than July 1 of the fiscal year following acceptance of the idea
application.
(IV) A copy of any employee's idea application that is not approved, along
with a copy of the executive director's response, and any document indicating the
projected savings shall be submitted by the director to the office of state planning
and budgeting created in section 24-37-102 within sixty business days after
submission of the idea application for the office of state planning and budgeting to
review.
(V) The executive director, or his or her designee, shall maintain copies of all
idea applications that are submitted, along with the following information for
approved idea applications:
(A) A description of the innovative idea implemented;
(B) The total savings achieved in the first fiscal year or first full twelve-month period after full implementation;
(C) The total dollars awarded as an incentive to the employee who submitted
the idea application;
(D) Any affected general appropriations act line item, if applicable; and
(E) An evaluation of the effectiveness in achieving the goals set forth in
section 24-50-901 of the implemented idea and the honorary award to the
employee.
(2) Commencing on or after October 1, 2010, all state agencies shall
advertise that the idea application is available on the department of personnel's
website on any type of electronic payroll statements issued to employees and in
any electronic broadcast communication made to employees, so long as the
advertisement for the idea application occurs at least monthly.
(3) The idea application and the advertisement described in subsection (2) of
this section shall include information related to the honorary award specified in
paragraph (d) of subsection (4) of this section that an employee may earn.
(4) (a) Once an idea application is submitted, reviewed, and accepted by the
executive director, or his or her designee, the employee shall be informed of the
honorary award he or she may earn.
(b) Thirteen months after the innovative idea described in the idea
application is fully implemented, the executive director shall calculate the savings
realized for the first twelve months of full implementation. All documentation of the
savings realized calculation satisfying the requirements of paragraph (f) of this
subsection (4) shall be forwarded to the state auditor for review and verification no
later than two months after the twelve months of full implementation of the
innovative idea described in the idea application. The state auditor shall have one
hundred twenty days from receipt of the savings realized calculation to:
(I) Conduct the review and verification of the savings realized calculation;
and
(II) Submit a report with his or her findings, recommendations, and
conclusions to the legislative audit committee, which shall hold a public hearing for
the purposes of a review of the report.
(c) The state auditor's report described in subparagraph (II) of paragraph (b)
of this subsection (4) shall be submitted to the executive director who approved the
idea application and to any members of the general assembly who carried any
legislation to implement the idea.
(d) (I) Except as provided in subparagraphs (II), (III), and (IV) of this paragraph
(d), and unless otherwise prohibited, the savings realized as verified by the state
auditor as specified in paragraph (b) of this subsection (4) shall be distributed, no
later than the last day of the eighteenth month following the implementation of the
innovative idea, as follows:
(A) Five percent, up to five thousand dollars, of the savings realized as a one-time honorary award to the employee who submitted the idea application;
(B) Twenty-five percent, up to twenty-five thousand dollars, of the savings
realized to the state agency that the employee's idea application directly affects;
and
(C) The remainder after distributions are made pursuant to sub-subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this subparagraph (I) to the state general fund.
(II) For a state agency that constitutes an enterprise for purposes of section
20 of article X of the state constitution, the savings realized as verified by the state
auditor as specified in paragraph (b) of this subsection (4) shall be distributed, no
later than the last day of the eighteenth month following the implementation of the
innovative idea, as follows:
(A) Five percent, up to five thousand dollars, of the savings realized as a one-time honorary award to the employee who submitted the idea application;
(B) The remainder, after the distribution made pursuant to sub-subparagraph
(A) of this subparagraph (II), to the state agency and to the general fund. The
amount distributed to the general fund shall be the same percentage of the savings
realized that the state agency receives in total annual revenues from the state
general fund.
(III) If the savings realized result in savings of federal moneys, the federal
moneys saved shall not be distributed as specified in this paragraph (d) but shall
either be used for a reallocation of moneys within the state agency or shall revert,
depending on the use specified for those particular federal moneys.
(IV) If the savings realized result in savings of moneys from public or private
grants, gifts, awards, or donations where the use of such moneys is restricted, such
restricted moneys shall not be distributed as specified in this paragraph (d) but
shall either be used for a reallocation of moneys within the state agency or shall
revert, depending on the use specified for such particular restricted moneys.
(e) (I) Except as provided in subparagraphs (II) and (III) of this paragraph (e),
the state agency may use the distribution specified in sub-subparagraph (B) of
subparagraph (I) of paragraph (d) of this subsection (4) for any projects that would
increase that state agency's efficiency or improve services provided to state
residents, but the distribution shall not be used to hire additional full-time
equivalent employees or for personnel services expenditures other than the
distribution specified in sub-subparagraph (A) of subparagraph (I) of paragraph (d)
of this subsection (4).
(II) Any savings realized distributed to the department of transportation
pursuant to sub-subparagraph (B) of subparagraph (I) of paragraph (d) of this
subsection (4) shall be transferred to the state highway fund created in section 43-1-219, C.R.S., and shall only be used for material costs of road and bridge repairs.
(III) This paragraph (e) shall not apply to a state agency that constitutes an
enterprise for purposes of section 20 of article X of the state constitution.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the state auditor shall
only be required to undertake the review and verification required by paragraph (b)
of this subsection (4) where the executive director has made a determination that
the savings realized for the first twelve months of full implementation of the
innovative idea described in the idea application equals ten thousand or more
dollars.
(5) Nothing in this part 9 shall be construed to provide employees with any
grievance, dispute resolution, or appeals process with regard to any idea
application submitted by the employee.