Action Likely in September as D.C. Land Transfer Bill Clears Senate Committee- July 27, 2006
House and Senate Floor Action Likely in September as D.C. Land Transfer Bill Clears Senate Committee
July 27, 2006
Washington, DC-D.C.'s land transfer bill, sponsored by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA), took another important step toward final passage with approval today by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The Federal and D.C. Government Real Property Act, unlike the House version which Norton had to carry through four committees, is now ready for the Senate floor. Following discussions about minor parts of the bill with Speaker Hastert's staff over the past several weeks, Norton said that she expects the House bill to be ready for the floor shortly after Congress returns in September.
"The Real Property Act will generate the first federal revenue for the District in compensation for some of the costs created entirely by a federally imposed structural imbalance, documented in a 2004 report by the General Accountability Office (GAO) to be between $470 million and $1.1 billion," Norton said. The bill swaps federal for District-owned land. Revenue that will be generated from the development of the land will count as partial compensation for the District's federally imposed structural deficit. The major federal sites transferred are Poplar Point, where a soccer stadium for D.C. United is planned, and Reservation 13, the site where D.C. General Hospital is now located. The land transfer is necessary to fully develop several Anacostia waterfront sites.
The GAO found that the structural imbalance results from federal mandates, such as federal removal from the tax rolls of more than 40% of the District's best land because it is used for federal and other purposes; uncompensated services provided by the District to 200,000 federal employees working in the District; a federal ban on taxation of commuters, although most travel from the suburbs to federal jobs here; and the District's responsibility for several state costs, even though the city is not a state and lacks the broad tax base of a state.
With floor action now likely in both chambers, Norton said that chances are good that the bill will be passed and signed into law before the end of this session.