The House of Representatives has passed two bills that seek to reduce the federal government’s footprint, consolidate real estate properties and negotiate office space lease deals.The Federal Asset Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 (H.R. 4465) and the Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act of 2016 (H.R. 4487) mean to change how unused federal real estate are sold and disposed, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said Monday.
“By selling and consolidating unneeded and underutilized federal property we can save taxpayer dollars and revitalize communities in the process,†said Rep. Jeff Denham (R-California), lead sponsor of H.R. 4465
Reps. Denham, Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Bill Shuster (R-Pennsylvania), Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon), Lou Barletta (R-Pennsylvania), Andre Carson (D-Indiana) and Elijah Cummings introduced H.R. 4465 to refurbish high-value properties identified by a proposed Public Buildings Reform Board.
The bill calls for the General Services Administration to publish a database that contains data about all excess federal real properties.
Reps. Barletta, Carson, Shuster, DeFazio, and other members of the Transportation Committee proposed H.R. 4487 to create a Streamlined Leasing Pilot Program to eliminate red tape on GSA leases and step up GSA’s oversight of the acquisition and construction of new federal space.
