Congressman Issa Probes Outrageous Bureau of Engraving and Printing plan: $75 Gift Cards to Employees who Return Office Property
Committee on Oversight & Government Reform
Tuesday, 01 December 2009
WASHINGTON D.C. – Managers at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, who operate under the url of www.moneyfactory.gov, may have allowed the whole “money factory” thing to go to their heads. According to a report by the Washington Post:
“Angry employees at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing say the cash-strapped agency is giving taxpayer money to government employees to return government printers. At least 534 mostly senior bureau employees have individual printers to ensure that sensitive documents — related mostly to personnel issues — don’t end up in the wrong hands. But now the agency wants them back and plans to give employees a $75 gift card to turn them over.”
In a letter to the Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Darrell Issa said the plan to spend over $40,000 to recover its own property, “may go down in history as one of the all time senseless uses of taxpayer dollars.” He also demanded that the agency provide a full and complete response including an answer to the question, “why didn’t you ask your employees to return the printers for free.”
“It’s absurd and demeaning that managers would offer employees gift cards for the simple act of returning office property,” added Issa. “If collecting printers will save taxpayers money, the government shouldn’t have to bribe federal employees to do it.”
Issa’s letter to the Bureau sets a December 15 deadline for a response. Click here to read Issa’s letter.
