The Department of Finance and Administration is hereby authorized and directed to establish an innovation incentive program whereby agencies which develop and implement innovative cost saving measures can receive both public commendation and monetary reward in recognition of their efforts. The Department of Finance and Administration shall develop policies and procedures as may be required in order to properly administer said program and such policies and procedures shall include the development of evaluation criteria by which the cost saving results of the various innovations can be calculated and compared against the innovations of other agencies. The Department of Finance and Administration shall make all agencies aware of the innovation incentive program and shall encourage the participation of agencies in the program.
The Department of Finance and Administration shall submit its recommendations for innovation incentive awards to the Legislature for consideration on or before January 1 of each year. The recommendations of the Department of Finance and Administration shall include the following items of information: (a) proposed recipients of awards, (b) the proposed amount of the monetary award, and (c) the proposed manner in which the monetary award should be made available to the recipient. The Legislature may hold hearings in regard to the innovations recommended for consideration by the Department of Finance and Administration and may, in its discretion, appropriate funds to reward agencies for innovations.