Senators Lankford, Peters Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Save Taxpayers’ Dollars

WASHINGTON, DC – Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Gary Peters (D-MI) and Representatives Greg Pence (R-IN) and Mark Meadows (R-NC) introduced legislation to bring fair market practices into federal real estate, potentially saving billions of taxpayer dollars. This legislation provides the General Services Association (GSA) with the ability to negotiate a discounted or fixed-price option on government leases moving forward. The bill seeks to transform how the government approaches federal real estate by giving GSA the ability to leverage its bargaining power upfront, saving billions of dollars, and reducing government waste.   

“With our national debt surpassing $23 trillion, we should take commonsense steps to ensure the federal government is not wasting taxpayer dollars,” said Lankford. “We should allow flexibility and innovation to save valuable taxpayer dollars instead of forcing agencies to lease when ownership at times would be more cost-effective. This straightforward piece of legislation has the potential to save American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this bill.”

“As elected officials, it is our 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 would be more cost-effective in the long run,” said Peters. “Our commonsense, bipartisan legislation would help to save billions of taxpayer dollars by reducing long-term leasing costs and allow agencies more flexibility to acquire property at a bargain price.”

“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,” said Pence. “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 21^st Century infrastructure needs.”

“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. This is a commonsense reform that would save millions of the American people’s money – an opportunity Congress should take whenever we get the chance. I thank my colleagues Congressman Pence and Senator Lankford for their work on this important bill, and I look forward to supporting it moving forward,” said Meadows.

Lankford and Peters serve on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, with Peters serving as the Ranking Member of the Committee and Lankford serving as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management. Pence and Meadows serve on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, with Meadows serving as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.