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Department/Agency:

HUD

City:

Washington

State:

DC

Ideas contributed by Community Member

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  Department of Housing and Urban Development »

  Public housing, subsidized renters, etc. should be taught how to maintain and repair thier units

  Secretary Donovan told Congress, "My many years of experience in dealing with affordable housing on a large scale—both in New York and overseeing HUD's multifamily assisted housing programs during the 1990's—have drilled home two key lessons. First, it is far more costly to build new units than to preserve 2 existing affordable housing. And, second, an affordable housing project can limp along for some time with piecemeal, ...more »

  Secretary Donovan told Congress, "My many years of experience in dealing with affordable housing on a large scale—both in New York and overseeing HUD's multifamily assisted housing programs during the 1990's—have drilled home two key lessons. First, it is far more costly to build new units than to preserve

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  existing affordable housing. And, second, an affordable housing project can limp along for some time with piecemeal, ad hoc strategies to address its accumulating capital backlog, but eventually the building will reach a 'tipping point' where its deterioration becomes rapid, increasingly expensive to remedy, and often irreversible."

  How many millions of dollars could be saved if physically-able residents of public housing, subsidized rental units, etc. were taught more effectively how to maintain and repair minor physical problems? Our existing stock of developments might not then need to be demolished and rebuilt at the taxpayer's repeated expense. The private-public ownership would benefit from lower costs in maintenance and project managers, and the already incentivized REAC scores would be higher, earning the project less frequent HUD insepctions, allowing more time for HUD staff to work on other issues.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Executive Office of the President »

  Appointment of US Ambassadors

  Appointment of US Ambassadors

  2 comments for Idea: Appointment of US Ambassadors

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Department of Housing and Urban Development »

  Incentivize subsidized tenants ownership via more private investment and less federal government involvement

  Objectives:  Reduce the amount of money appropriated from Congress, which HUD distributes to apartment project owners on behalf of subsidized tenants, which is usually 70% of the monthly rent. This can be accomplished via: Empowering and incentivizing subsidized tenants to maintain their apartment at a higher standard (which would result in: lower costs for the owner/management agent; higher REAC, MOR, etc. scores and ...more »

  Objectives:

   Reduce the amount of money appropriated from Congress, which HUD distributes to apartment project owners on behalf of subsidized tenants, which is usually 70% of the monthly rent.

  This can be accomplished via:

  Empowering and incentivizing subsidized tenants to maintain their apartment at a higher standard (which would result in: lower costs for the owner/management agent; higher REAC, MOR, etc. scores and less frequent REAC inspections; proportionate ownership in the apartment complex by the subsidized tenants (i.e. the subsidized tenants would hold a percent of ownership in the property proportionate to what percent of the debt service their 30% of adjusted income rent is.))

  Conclusion:

  Further stimulate the economy and create more incentive for private investors to invest in apartment projects which include subsidized units and tenants, If owners agree to give amounts of ownership proportionate to the number of subsidized tenants and units and rent there from, HUD will (or should) agree to a shorter Use Agreement, Regulatory Agreement, etc.

  This would:

  1. Free up hundreds of millions of dollars in our nation’s budget

  2. Reduce the deficit

  3. Reduce the annual requested funds HUD submits 4. Create more incentive for private investment (further stimulating the economy)

  5. Instill more pride in ownership on behalf of the subsidized tenants.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation »

  Profit from remembering the Trail of Tears

  Similar to my suggestion about remembering the Veterans of the Bataan Death March, I would recommend creating a route as close to the actual route of the Trail of Tears as possible, and charge people a small fee to both walk the trail and/or camp on the trail, to connect with their ancestors and/or to learn more about the history of our country's Native Americans. This program can be installed and managed by the BLM, ...more »

  Similar to my suggestion about remembering the Veterans of the Bataan Death March, I would recommend creating a route as close to the actual route of the Trail of Tears as possible, and charge people a small fee to both walk the trail and/or camp on the trail, to connect with their ancestors and/or to learn more about the history of our country's Native Americans. This program can be installed and managed by the BLM, under the guidance of the DOI.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Japan-United States Friendship Commission »

  Remember Bataan Veterans

  For a small fee and NOT FOR FREE, remember Bataan Veterans, Philipino, American, and Japanese (since they suffered with, though not as badly as, the POW's they took) by taking people on guided tours and crusies following the Bataan Death March and the hell ships' routes.

  1 comment for Idea: Remember Bataan Veterans

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Executive Office of the President »

  Qualify tax cuts for businesses, stimulate the private economy in bipartisan fashion.

  Since the IRS is not an available category, my suggestion is this: Rather than giving tax cut to businesses on the correct assumption that they will create more jobs as a result, and rather than increasing taxes on businesses to increase social services, qualify the tax cuts. By "qualify," I mean require a proportionate percentage of thier workforce to be hired in order for the businesses to qualify for the tax cuts. ...more »

  Since the IRS is not an available category, my suggestion is this:

  Rather than giving tax cut to businesses on the correct assumption that they will create more jobs as a result, and rather than increasing taxes on businesses to increase social services, qualify the tax cuts. By "qualify," I mean require a proportionate percentage of thier workforce to be hired in order for the businesses to qualify for the tax cuts. Such a system could be incentivized as follows:

  Company hires: %Tax cut qualified for:

  5% of existing workforce 0.25

  10% of existing workforce 0.5

  Etc. (This scale might not be exact, as I have not analyzed the data from tax cuts on businesses in recent years.) it just seems that qualifying the tax cut would be able to quickly gain a lot bipartisan support.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Department of Health and Human Services »

  Save Billions via reformed Adoption, abortion, and organ donation

  First, those considering abortions should be made aware of all available adoption and foster care options in their area and the adoption and foster care approval process should offer more incentives to participants. (Simply be increasing: Federal Title IV-E Adoption Assistance) The approval process should also be expedited, rather than taking a year or more for a person to obtain a background criminal and financial check. ...more »

  First, those considering abortions should be made aware of all available adoption and foster care options in their area and the adoption and foster care approval process should offer more incentives to participants. (Simply be increasing: Federal Title IV-E Adoption Assistance) The approval process should also be expedited, rather than taking a year or more for a person to obtain a background criminal and financial check. A policy for acceptable healthcare cost payments by the potential adoptive/foster parent(s) should be encouraged and those considering abortions should be made aware of such programs by HHS, Planned Parenthood, etc.

  Second, those considering abortions should be made aware of clinical trials pharmaceutical companies are conducting, as well as the necessary and extreme difficulty such companies undertake to provide pregnant woman with more effective morning sickness medication. At their own expense, pharmaceutical companies would be more than happy to provide this information to Planned Parenthood and similar organizations with the specific clinical trial applicant and phase information. As an example of the serious problem morning sickness and other pregnancy related health problems are, my wife has morning sickness for all trimesters and the best available prescription is Zofran, an anti-nausea prescription for cancer patients, which cost over $40 per 2 milligram pill. Since our health insurance company will only pay for a limited amount of Zofran, my wife frequents the emergency Room to get rehydrated intravenously. If those considering abortions participated in clinical drug trials, prior to getting an abortion, their sacrifice would help millions of other mothers.

  COST-BENEFIT: This would save millions annually for at least three departments: HHS and the FDA, which reviews and approves/denies all new drug product introduction, and the USPTO (by not investing time in the patent review and approval process on products not yet approved by the FDA). Further, pharmaceutical companies would willingly contribute to any addition cost incurred by creating winning coalitions between abortion providers and themselves.

  Third, where women have decided to have an abortion, they should be given as much information as possible regarding organ donation for their baby. (What is currently happening with these babies' bodies is not a subject anyone in DC cares to discuss. ) This would help both the shortage of organ donations for infants who have serious health problems and would help offset the financial nightmare and deficits of our current healthcare system.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Department of Housing and Urban Development »

  All Federal Gov't buildlings should lease/rent out vacant rooms.

  Not only HUD but all non-sensitive (CIA, Dept. of State, FBI, Homeland Security obviously don't qualify) federal government office buildings in Washington DC and throughout the country should rent or lease vacant rooms in the building. Since reduction in work force actions and increasing personnel employed by the government are sometimes difficult to predict, the leases could be short term, 1 to 2 years at a time. All ...more »

  Not only HUD but all non-sensitive (CIA, Dept. of State, FBI, Homeland Security obviously don't qualify) federal government office buildings in Washington DC and throughout the country should rent or lease vacant rooms in the building. Since reduction in work force actions and increasing personnel employed by the government are sometimes difficult to predict, the leases could be short term, 1 to 2 years at a time. All potential commercial tenants would have to provide back ground checks on all employees entering the buildlings, at the tenant's expense, prior to moving into the government building. Washington DC proper is prime real estate and if the property manager of each building hired a lease manager, the government could earn millions of dollars each year. During a recession, all sources of income should be examoined and modified.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Department of the Interior »

  BLM should auction and lease small amounts of land, short term, for hikers and campers.

  The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) should increase the area permitted for camping and hiking by either auction short term (1 to 10 year) leases of small (1 to 10 acres) of land for youth groups, campers, and the general public to camp or hike on, under the condition that those using the land for that purpose leave it better than they found it and abide by “leave no trace” camping guidelines. ...more »

  The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) should increase the area permitted for camping and hiking by either auction short term (1 to 10 year) leases of small (1 to 10 acres) of land for youth groups, campers, and the general public to camp or hike on, under the condition that those using the land for that purpose leave it better than they found it and abide by “leave no trace” camping guidelines. Specifically this new opportunity should apply to previously restricted area, such as the islands in UT (excluding Antelope and the privately held Fremont). Two levels of verification would be required: the first would be by the campers/hikers themselves. In order to be allowed to use the land, they would be required to ensure that they leave no trace or leave the area better than they found it; and second, BLM park rangers would retrace the steps of the campers/hikers and verify that no trace had been left. During difficult economic times, such a proposal could generate millions of dollars annually for the BLM, DOI, and federal government. This opportunity would also generate the flow of more income: customers wanting to be guided on such a hike/camp, the guides of the camp earning more income, and the increase in jobs such as guided hikes/camps and lease preparation and enforcement would create for the private and public sector, respectively.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Department of the Interior »

  BLM should auction and lease small amounts of land for short amounts of time.

  The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) should auction of short term (1 to 10 year leases) of small (1 to 10 acres) of land to private companies who take people on guided hunts, on the condition that those using the land for that purpose leave it better than they found it and abide by “leave no trace” camping guidelines. During difficult economic times, such a proposal could generate millions ...more »

  The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) should auction of short term (1 to 10 year leases) of small (1 to 10 acres) of land to private companies who take people on guided hunts, on the condition that those using the land for that purpose leave it better than they found it and abide by “leave no trace” camping guidelines. During difficult economic times, such a proposal could generate millions of dollars annually for the BLM, DOI, and federal government. This opportunity would also generate the flow of more income: customers wanting to be guided on such a hunt/camp, the guides of the camp earning more income, and the increase in jobs such guided hunts and lease preparation and agreement would create for the private and public sector, respectively.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Department of Housing and Urban Development »

  Build public housing & Section 8 on borders of BLM parks, forests, land, etc.

  In a joint effort between HUD’s Housing Department and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), public housing should be encouraged or incentivized to be built bordering federally protected or BLM managed parks, forests, land, etc. (“Bordering” here means within one mile from the protected land, including across the street but not infringing or reducing BLM land.) This would attract more investors to public housing projects, ...more »

  In a joint effort between HUD’s Housing Department and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), public housing should be encouraged or incentivized to be built bordering federally protected or BLM managed parks, forests, land, etc. (“Bordering” here means within one mile from the protected land, including across the street but not infringing or reducing BLM land.) This would attract more investors to public housing projects, realizing the gains possible after the loan was satisfied and the Use Agreement completed. This would increase the management and tenants of such housing units to maintain the property and management would be more motivated to earn superior REAC and MOR reviews. In general, more motivation would be devoted from everyone participating.

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  4 comments for Idea: Build public housing & Section 8 on borders of BLM parks, forests, land, etc.

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Department of Housing and Urban Development »

  Further Incentivize public housing performance and further reduce Section 8 subsidies

  Section 8 subsidy is/was reduced by HUD’s Office of Affordable Housing Preservation. Section 8 subsidies should be further reduced, freeing up more government revenue for other departments or other parts of HUD. This further reduction would also create more incentive for the private sector in invest and earn profit, based on the performance of management in multifamily housing via Management and Occupancy Reviews (MOR)and ...more »

  Section 8 subsidy is/was reduced by HUD’s Office of Affordable Housing Preservation. Section 8 subsidies should be further reduced, freeing up more government revenue for other departments or other parts of HUD. This further reduction would also create more incentive for the private sector in invest and earn profit, based on the performance of management in multifamily housing via Management and Occupancy Reviews (MOR)and Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) inspection and reporting scores. Currently, the investor earns profit based on “income minus expenses is profit,” as the expense of an annual inspection (REAC) and management review (MOR) decrease when superior scores are earned, the expenses would be reduced since less time and paperwork for HUD would need to be completed, reviewed, and submitted each year. Profit and income would increase by funds from new investors, more willing to invest in a project with both superior REAC and MOR results as well as a shortened Use Agreement.

  Similar to when the REAC was created and the higher the score a project and management agent received, the less frequent HUD field office employees would come to inspect the multifamily housing, two incentives should be offered to improve the quality of housing facilities and management response to tenants:

  For consistent (three or more) REAC and MOR reviews that earn at a score of 90 or higher and “superior,” or “above average” respectively,

  1. A prorated, performance-based percentage of time can be deducted from the Use Agreement, and

  2. A prorated, performance-based percentage of the subsidy from HUD can be reduced

  Q: Wouldn’t the subsidy reduction result in increased rents on the tenants (more than the standard 30% of their income) or wouldn’t the subsidy reduction result in an increased rent increase schedule?

  A: The unit rent is currently established by the market and regulations, however this could be modified to include a “superior REAC and MOR scores” section which would include this proposal. The tenant’s rent schedule would not be increased if the gap between the rent and the subsidy were filled in with private investment, which would be more attractive to investors based on the reduced Use Agreement. The idea would be that both incentives and the relationship between the multifamily public housing project and the investors would be reciprocal.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Department of Education »

  Public school sports teams should compete with Boys & Girls Club, home-schooled, and private school athletic teams

  In order to raise more funds for the Department of Education and the state education departments, public school sports teams should compete with Boys & Girls Club (and other community youth mentoring programs), home-schooled, and private school athletic teams. The main problem is insurance liability: public schools cannot be liable for sports injuries on their grounds, where those competing have not submitted waivers. ...more »

  In order to raise more funds for the Department of Education and the state education departments, public school sports teams should compete with Boys & Girls Club (and other community youth mentoring programs), home-schooled, and private school athletic teams. The main problem is insurance liability: public schools cannot be liable for sports injuries on their grounds, where those competing have not submitted waivers. In addition to every member of the competing Boys & Girls Club (and other community youth mentoring programs), home-schooled, or private school athletic teams submitting a completed insurance waiver, public schools could also require that such teams sign another waiver, increasing and doubling the protection of the schools from liability. Public schools could also increase the price of tickets to each sports game:

  1. For Boys & Girls Club (and other community youth mentoring programs): the ticket price could be increased (since it would be for charity as well as the public school team) and split with the competing charity's team

  2. For private school athletic teams, the price could be increased either for all of the audience or for the parents and friends of the private school athletes only.

  This way, public schools could obtain more residual funding from increased ticket prices and increased ticket sales (from the larger audience attracted to the games) every game of every sport, year after year.

  Such a program would provide more opportunity for disadvantaged youth who are excellent athletes to get noticed by recruiters from colleges and from professional sports teams. Residual profit from each sport could be realized annually.

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  2 comments for Idea: Public school sports teams should compete with Boys & Girls Club, home-schooled, and private school athletic teams

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Postal Service »

  CLICK TO SAVE BILLIONS: USPS partnership with Sanitation & Recycling Workers

  Instead of increasing the postal rate, projected to reach $0.46 in 2011, to compensate for facing a projected $7-billion budget gap, the United States Postal Service should collaborate with sanitation workers in a plan wherein the latter would help deliver mail on the specific day of the week their pick up is scheduled for. The benefits from such a plan include: 1. One-sixth or 16.7 percent of the USPS expenses would ...more »

  Instead of increasing the postal rate, projected to reach $0.46 in 2011, to compensate for facing a projected $7-billion budget gap, the United States Postal Service should collaborate with sanitation workers in a plan wherein the latter would help deliver mail on the specific day of the week their pick up is scheduled for.

  The benefits from such a plan include:

  1. One-sixth or 16.7 percent of the USPS expenses would be reduced by contracting the delivery of mail one day per week with local sanitation workers. In areas where recycling sanitation workers and other sanitation workers collect on different days, the USPS budget could potentially be reduced by 33.3%, if the USPS were allowed or incentivized to work with both sanitation departments and reduce their heavy work schedule and burden.

  2. Postal rates would note need to be increased as frequently and at the scale they are.

  3. More jobs would be created ouside of DC, and cross training for USPS and sanitation workers would give thousands of people more opportunity for career advancement.

  4. Reduced impact on the environment and global warming.

  A second supplement to the USPS projected budget gap would be to incentivize private citizens and businesses to pick up their mail at a post office. This could be accomplished with at least two methods:

  1. Reduced tax rate or reduced postal rate for commercial and business mail, parcels, packages, etc.

  2. Reduced postage rate for citizens and businesses that elect to pick up their own mail at the post office.

  Benefits 2,3, and 4 listed above would be optimized and quickly realized with these methods.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Department of Housing and Urban Development »

  Automate Active Partners Performance System (APPS)

  In the Multifamily Housing division of the Office of Asset Management, all participants hoping to operate or manage multifamily public housing must be cleared through the Active Partners Performance System (APPS). Further, their organization (Inc., LLC, LP, LLLP, Trust, etc.) must have the correct legally required ownership and members designated in a portion of APPS titled "Organization Tier Structure." With a majority ...more »

  In the Multifamily Housing division of the Office of Asset Management, all participants hoping to operate or manage multifamily public housing must be cleared through the Active Partners Performance System (APPS). Further, their organization (Inc., LLC, LP, LLLP, Trust, etc.) must have the correct legally required ownership and members designated in a portion of APPS titled "Organization Tier Structure." With a majority of submissions, the tier structure is not completed correctly. For example, only 50% ownership will be specified or a corporation won't list any stockholders or directors. If APPS was automated, with warning screens reading, "Your tier structure does not have 100% of the ownership disclosed," or, "The requirements for an LLC (or whatever organization they specify) include: stockholders with 10% or more of stock, and at least one officer, and one director." Significant time and money would be saved since HUD Multifamily staff would no longer return unsatisfactory Organization and Identity Change requests to the private sector and then review in the future a correct version of the submission. The private sector would also save time and money with an automated APPS system by submitting their change requests correctly the first time, due to the updated APPS system not allowing incomplete/incorrect submissions.

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