This week, U.S. Rep. Dan Webster, R-Fla., threw his support behind U.S. Rep. Greg Pence’s, R-Ind., “Public-Private Partnerships for Prosperity (P4) Act.”
Webster and U.S. Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., are co-sponsoring the proposal which would “provide the General Services Administration (GSA) with flexibility to pilot the use of public-private partnerships.”
“Currently, GSA has a backlog of construction and major renovation projects. Due to budgetary scoring rules, GSA may only use direct federal construction or operating leases with no right to ownership. H.R. 4485, the Public Private Partnerships for Prosperity (P4) Act of 2019, directs GSA to identify 5-10 eligible projects to acquire public buildings using public-private partnerships. With this additional tool, GSA has the potential to save billions of taxpayer dollars,” Webster’s office noted.
“We must bring our approach to federal real estate into the 21st Century and work to save hardworking Hoosiers and American taxpayers billions of dollars,” said Pence. “If we are serious about transforming how we approach federal real estate, it is critical for us to do things differently and put more common-sense options on the table – like P3s. With tight budgets and competing priorities facing our nation, public buildings often are not the priority. We must, at the very least, test out authorities that have the potential to modernize our approach and save taxpayer dollars.”
“Every dollar spent in Washington, is a dollar taken out of a hard working American’s pocket,” said Daniel Webster. “I ran for Congress pledging to get our fiscal house in order, eliminate waste and improve efficiencies so we are better investing taxpayer dollars. H.R. 1940 is a common-sense proposal to improve our federal real estate approach, reduce backlog and provide needed flexibility for public/private partnerships.”
“I’ve always believed that we can help balance the federal budget by taking common-sense steps towards saving American taxpayers’ dollars through innovation and modernization, and that’s exactly what the P4 Act seeks to do,” said Guest. “By taking a unique approach to federal real estate, this legislation would improve our existing portfolio while reducing costs and cutting waste. The P4 Act is a win-win for the American people, and I’m proud to join Congressmen Pence and Webster on this important undertaking.”
The bill was sent to the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee which sent it to the U.S. House Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management Subcommittee on Wednesday. So far, there is no companion measure in the U.S. Senate.
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
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