Federal Employees to be Reimbursed When They Use a Ride Sharing Service?

July 12, 2016

Some legislators are seeking to improve and enhance the way the federal employees travel for completing any government work. As per a freshly introduced legislation, it is being requested that the federal workers be reimbursed for every work related journey they take via a ride sharing application. The legislation would ensure that the government offers benefits that are at par with the private sector benefits along with ensuring that people know that the government has adopted all the aspects of the 21^st century.

The Act Offering Additional Reimbursement to Federal Employees

The act that is offering an additional reimbursement option to all the federal workers is named as the Government Travel Modernization Act. This bill would allow all the federal workers to use bike and cab sharing services such as Lyft and Uber when they are traveling for any government purpose. This bill was recently introduced by the Congressmen Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Will Hurd (R-TX).

The Benefit

Federal workers would largely benefit from this bill as they would get the liberty to order a ride by using a Smartphone app and save their time. This act would also ensure that the government travel facilities are as per the 21^st century. This act would also save the taxpayers’ money as ride sharing is a comparatively cheaper option than hiring a cab for only one person. It is pertinent to add here that the government is currently offering reimbursement on other services such as taxi cabs.

Updated Policies

Rep. Hurd has also stated that the government must pass this act to ensure that it doesn’t remain behind the times by adopting only outdated policies. He added that the government that rewards only outdated technology often ends up paying more than it should for even the basic services.

Hurd is also the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on IT. He is well-known for being an advocate of embracing new technologies and modernizing the federal IT system.

Innovation and Competition

Hurd also reiterated the fact that if the new reimbursement method offered to federal employees is accepted, it will ensure that the government catches up with the private sector that has been offering such reimbursements for a long time. It would also ensure that the overall image of the federal government seems to be more responsive and innovative at the same time.