.jpg)
A bipartisan push by two first-year U.S. lawmakers to reduce the amount of leased office space that goes unused by the federal government has cleared another hurdle.
On Tuesday, the Federal Use it or Lose it Leases (FULL) Act, sponsored by Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Washougal, and Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-North Carolina, passed the House of Representatives as a part of the USE IT Act.
In a news release, Gluesenkamp Perez said, if passed, the legislation would require:
• Federal tenants to submit an annual report on monthly occupancy rates to the General Services Administration (GSA)
• Federal tenants to prepare written procedures for returning infrequently used office space to the GSA
• Independent leasing authorities to submit annual reports on occupancy and space utilization to congressional committees
“Flexibility in where federal employees work has allowed public servants to spend more time coaching their kid’s Little League team and less time commuting in traffic — and telework has been beneficial to rural communities like mine. But federal policy needs to keep up so taxpayers aren’t footing the bill for empty office space,” Gluesenkamp Perez said on the House floor. “Instead of wasting tax dollars on empty buildings and their landlords, we should be using them to replace our crumbling infrastructure. I’m grateful for Congressman Edwards’s partnership on this bipartisan, common sense effort to reduce government waste and be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
According to the release, federal agencies spent more than $1 billion annually on furnishings between 2020 and 2022, during the “maximum telework period.” Occupancy in federal Washington, D.C., offices are roughly half of the pre-pandemic level.
More than half of federal leases will expire in the next five years.
“The FULL Act will help prevent taxpayers from footing the bill for unused federal office space by making sure the federal government only leases the office space it needs and will use. As federal telework levels remain high, agencies’ D.C. HQ offices are sitting mostly empty,” Edwards said in a statement.
“This legislation will enable Congress to effectively perform oversight of government spending on office leases by requiring federal agencies to use it or lose it.”
The USE IT Act will now head to the Senate for consideration.
