GSA Reform Bill Passes Committee with Several of Norton’s Long-Sought Priorities

WASHINGTON, DC – Many of the reforms Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) has championed were part of the Public Buildings Savings and Reform Act of 2013 (H.R. 2612), which Norton cosponsored and was passed today by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The bill, to reform how the General Services Administration (GSA) Public Building Service operates and administers its lending and construction program, includes several provisions that Norton has worked for since she chaired the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management in order to improve the efficiency and operation of GSA and save taxpayer funds. Norton said she was particularly pleased the bill requires judges to engage in courtroom sharing – an initiative she has long promoted – especially given the hundreds of millions of dollars in wasted overbuilding of courthouses for over 15 years. Another Norton priority included in the bill would eliminate overbuilding by mandating that GSA notify the committee if a construction project will differ from the committee authorized square footage by five percent, and would require a new prospectus if a new building exceeds its initially authorized space by 10 percent. After the $500 leasing million debacle by the Securities Exchange Commission, which leased space it did not need, Norton introduced a bill included in today's markup to permanently rescind the independent leasing authority of federal agencies, none of which have the necessary real estate experience and some of which have repeatedly leased and paid for space they did not need.

At the full committee markup of the bill today, Norton said, "I appreciate that among the provisions are reforms of the majority and the Administration, as well as some we have been working to achieve for some time…These reforms will allow GSA…to address some of the well documented instances of poor management…I appreciate the way Chairman Barletta and I have worked together on this important bill. We are now set on a productive pattern of working together, with benefits we believe will come to taxpayers, GSA and those who work to restore and preserve federal real estate assets."

Published: July 10, 2013