Pence co-sponsors bill to reduce government waste

Greg Pence Eric Connolly U.S. House Office of Photography

Staff Reports

Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind., and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina, have introduced legislation to bring fair market practices into federal real estate.

The two legislators said the bill could potentially save billions of taxpayer dollars.

The bill, H.R. 5137, provides the General Services Association with the ability to negotiate a discounted or fixed price option on government leases moving forward, according to Pence. The bill seeks to transform how the government approaches federal real estate by giving the General Services Association the ability to leverage their bargaining power upfront, reducing government waste.

“With our nation’s infrastructure broken and too often ignored by Congress, I am committed to putting common-sense options on the table that save billions of taxpayer dollars, reduce government waste and free up money to invest in our crumbling roads and more,” Pence said. “Sensible legislation like this has the potential to save over $5 billion taxpayer dollars by bringing fair market practices to federal real estate. Hoosiers deserve an efficient government that can meet our 21st Century infrastructure needs.”

Senators James Lankford, R-Oklahoma and Gary Peters, D-Michigan, introduced companion legislation in the U.S. Senate.

“Forcing agencies to lease property when ownership would be more cost effective is a counter-intuitive policy that blatantly wastes money from hard-working taxpayers,” Meadows said. “This is a common sense reform that would save millions of the American people’s money — an opportunity Congress should take whenever we get the chance.”

Peters said as elected officials, it is a duty to be responsible with hard-earned taxpayer dollars and prevent fraud, waste and abuse.

“Unfortunately, the government’s current approach to managing federal property forces many agencies to enter into wasteful, long-term leasing agreements, when owning the property could be more cost-effective in the long run,” Peters said.

The bill would allow the General Services Association to utilize public-private partnerships when entering into leases, according to Pence.

Pence and Meadows serve on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, with Meadows serving as ranking member on the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.