NTU urges all Representatives to vote“YES” on H.R. 1734, the “Civilian Property Realignment Act.” Introduced by Rep.Denham (R-CA), this bill would establish an ongoing, systematic process fordisposal of federal real property assets.
Currentlythe federal government owns and manages some 900,000 buildings and structuresand 41 million acres of land worldwide. In 2009, the Office of Management andBudget found that the U.S. taxpayers were on the hook to maintain approximately14,000 excess buildings and 76,000 underutilized properties, at an annual costof $1.7 billion each year.
H.R.1734 would help to alleviate those costs through creating a commission ofpresidential appointees (with consultation from Congress) tasked with compilingpackages of recommendations on unneeded civilian properties (including anear-term list of at least five “high-value assets”). Procedures under the billwould encourage timely presidential transmission and congressionalconsideration of the commission’s reports. H.R. 1734 tends to emulate the BaseRealignment and Closure (BRAC) model that proved successful in helping thearmed services to shed superfluous infrastructure. There are some legitimate concerns with thislegislation, including the $20 million appropriated for the commission’sexpenses, the potential for politics to dominate the appointment process, and thelack of an up-front offset for the $62 million fund to help agencies manage thetransition following the sale of their assets. Nevertheless, we believe thepotential long-term gains from selling unneeded federal property, coupled withthe year-over-year savings accrued from reduced maintenance costs, will resultin a net positive for taxpayers as well as sound fiscal stewardship.
Roll call votes on H.R. 1734 will be significantlyweighted in our annual Rating of Congress and a “YES” vote will beconsidered the pro-taxpayer position.
If you have any questions, please contact NTU Federal Government Affairs Manager Brandon Greife at(703) 683-5700