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Opening remarks, as prepared, of Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee Chairman Scott Perry (R-PA) from today’s roundtable, entitled, “Shedding Wasted Space: Roundtable on Effective Implementation of Public Buildings Reforms”:

I am pleased to welcome our participants to today’s Subcommittee roundtable on federal real estate. I look forward to continuing to work with Ranking Member Stanton and other Members of the Subcommittee on this important issue. These roundtables provide an opportunity for this subcommittee, federal agencies, and the private sector to have meaningful discussions. We know prior Subcommittee roundtable discussions have proven to be effective in getting agencies to reduce space and think more strategically to reduce costs to the taxpayer.

With the backdrop of the implementation of the public buildings reforms enacted in 2024, the goal of today’s roundtable is to discuss implementation of the reforms, the challenges agencies are facing in efforts to reduce and consolidate their space and get rid of unneeded property, and potential solutions to those challenges. We need “outside the box,” innovative solutions to meet the challenges that we will discuss today. This may look like engaging in public-private partnerships (P3’s); a shift to renting, rather than owning, federal office space; or maybe it looks like continuing to cut out the bloat and reducing the oversized federal footprint, something our friends at the Public Buildings Reform Board have been dedicated to seeing through.

Once agencies vacate buildings, how do we maximize the return to the taxpayer and avoid selling properties for pennies on the dollar? Whatever the best solutions may be, it is no secret that federal real estate has been on the GAO’s high-risk list since 2003. That’s the past 23 years, so I say it’s time we change that.

The public buildings reforms in WRDA 2024, including the USE IT Act, require agencies to meet at least a 60 percent building utilization rate for the first time. Congress has spoken: agencies must let go of space if they fail to meet that threshold. The last thing we want are excuses, so finding solutions to any hurdles is critical.

The recent submission of the mandated USE IT Act occupancy data is yet another example of why the government must improve its processes. After being submitted two months late, the release was riddled with errors and anomalies. The GSA has put a team together to pour through the data and recommend improvements to the guidance and process for collecting the data.

But ultimately, what is clear is that agencies must begin taking steps to fill the space they have or lose it. I am pleased to be joined by all of you today and am looking forward to our discussion.

Click here for more information from today’s roundtable, including video.