Murphy Reintroduces Legislation to Save $15 Billion in Federal Spending
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. (NC-03) reintroduced the Eliminate Agency Excess Space Act. The inspiration for this policy was featured in the Republican Study Committee Government, Efficiency, Accountability and Reform (GEAR) Task Force's report, Power, Practices, Personnel: 100+ Commonsense Solutions to a Better Government.
A 2017 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report found 3,120 federal buildings were vacant and 7,859 were partially empty or underutilized. If space is no longer in use and an agency would like to sell or lease it, federal code currently limits the ability to do so by requiring the General Services Administration verify if another agency can use the office space before it is eligible to be put on the market, significantly hindering the process.
The Eliminate Agency Excess Space Act would remove this requirement, allowing agencies to more easily sell or lease unused or underused office space. The revenue would be returned to the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury for the sole purpose of deficit reduction. According to Citizens Against Government Waste, this change would save the federal government $15 billion over five years.
Murphy released the following statement:
"Our nation's crippling national debt has major implications for us, our children and our grandchildren," said Murphy. "We should be looking to reduce it at every turn, particularly given the massive amount of money we have spent during this pandemic.
"If Democrats want to recklessly spend nearly $2 trillion largely on things that don't pertain to COVID-19, then they should support this commonsense bill that helps pay for some of it. I thank my Republican colleagues for co-sponsoring this legislation and it is my hope that we can cut through the partisan gridlock and make this bill a law," concluded Murphy.
President of FreedomWorks, Adam Brandon, issued the following statement:
"It is no secret that layers and layers of bureaucracy mire our executive branch, even for something so simple as leasing or selling unused office space. As it stands, billions of taxpayer dollars are wasted paying for more than 10,000 vacant or underutilized buildings. Rep. Murphy is right to take a stand and seek a solution to both relieve taxpayers of this unnecessary burden and streamline executive processes all at once."
The following members signed as original co-sponsors: Rick Allen (GA-12), Jim Baird (IN-04), Lauren Boebert (CO-03), Mo Brooks (AL-05), Ted Budd (NC-13), Madison Cawthorn (NC-11), Jeff Duncan (SC-03), Matt Gaetz (FL-01), Paul Gosar (AZ-04), Yvette Herrell (NM-02), Jody Hice (GA-12), Ashley Hinson (IA-01), Ronny Jackson (TX-13), Fred Keller (PA-12), Lisa McClain (MI-10), Barry Moore (AL-02), Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chip Roy (TX-21), Greg Steube (FL-17), Randy Weber (TX-14)
The text of the legislation can be found here.