Norton Gets Land Transfer Bill Passed in the House- September 30, 2006

Washington, DC—As the dust settled in the waning hours of the Congress before recess, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) scored a major victory for the city, with House passage of the Federal and D.C. Government Real Property Act, H.R. 3699. She almost got Senate passage of the bill, which transfers valuable federal land to the city. However, as the Senate wound down, Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told her there were “holds” on the bill, a mistake for which all involved are now apologizing. Norton is confident that she can get the Senate to pass the bill after the October recess and before final adjournment for the year. 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 bill also is necessary to fully develop several Anacostia waterfront sites. With packed agendas and bills of major national significance still pending in both houses of Congress, Norton said that getting the land transfer bill through the House was significant progress for the District. The House recessed well after 1 am Saturday, September 30. The Senate went home almost two hours later before the mix-up on the land transfer bill was straightened out.

Sponsored by Congresswoman Norton and Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA), the land transfer bill followed weeks of negotiations by Norton and the Office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) concerning land needed by the Architect of the Capitol. Although consideration by only one Senate committee was necessary, Norton had to carry the House bill through four separate House committees. The bill swaps federal land for District-owned land. Norton said the bill is particularly important because the 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 Real Property Act will generate the first federal revenue for the District in compensation for some of the costs created by the structural imbalance, documented in a 2003 report by the General Accountability Office (GAO) to be between $470 million and $1.1 billion. 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; uncompensated services provided by the District to 200,000 federal employees working in the District; a federal ban on taxing 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.