Del. Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, (left) and Gov. Jim Justice (right) present a check to Judy Lupson (center), rewarding her for her cost-saving idea for her workplace at the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, during a ceremony in the state Capitol Monday, Jan. 20, 2019.
Del. Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, (left) and Gov. Jim Justice (right) present a check to Judy Lupson (center), rewarding her for her cost-saving idea for her workplace at the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, during a ceremony in the state Capitol Monday, Jan. 20, 2019.
CHARLESTON — The State Employee Suggestion Award Board resurrected by Republican Cabell County Del. Daniel Linville in September has rewarded two state employees for their good ideas to make the state run more smoothly and efficiently.
Linville joined Gov. Jim Justice in his Reception Room at the Capitol on Monday to present Judy Lupson, office assistant in the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Division of Water and Waste Management, with a check for $2,607.18 — a percentage of the more than $13,000 her idea is estimated to save the state in future years. Another state employee, LoriJan Woodward, who works with the Department of Health and Human Resources’s Board of Review in Martinsburg, was awarded $1,831.03, though she wasn’t present for the ceremony.
The State Employee Suggestion Award Board takes suggestions from state employees and can require state agencies to implement them. If that suggestion results in efficiencies or cash savings for state government, the board can award the employee up to 20% of the first year’s realized savings, up to $16,000. The board was revived by Linville, who found it in state code, after not meeting since 2014.
Lupson suggested a way to simplify the groundwater fee collection process after realizing it was so confusing, people either weren’t paying on time or just not paying at all. The new process made her job easier, too. What used to take all of her time now is complete in two weeks.
Woodward saved more than $9,000 in five years of travel costs by requesting Board of Review reviewers be allowed to meet with their counties via video conference.
“When I ran for office, I said I wanted to make government run more like a business,” Linville said. “I knew in five years someone in state government had a good idea, and that person was Judy.”
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
