Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate for H.R. 4487

Floor Speech

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, in accordance with House Report 114-589, Part 1, I submit the following Congressional Budget Cost Estimate for H.R. 4487. Congressional Budget Office, U.S. Congress, Washington, DC, July 5, 2016. Hon. Bill Shuster, Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4487, the Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act of 2016.

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew Pickford. Sincerely, Keith Hall.

Enclosure. H.R. 4487--Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act of 2016

H.R. 4487 would amend federal law to provide new authorities to the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Protective Service (FPS) to manage federal real estate assets and security at those facilities. The act also would require GSA to prepare a number of reports for the Congress and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to complete an audit of GSA's national broker contract. Finally, the legislation would require that lactation rooms be available in all federal buildings that are open to the public.

Based on information from GSA and the FPS, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 4487 would cost $3 million over the 2017-2021 period, mostly for GSA to prepare reports on a variety of subjects, including a comparison of the cost of owning or leasing space, an explanation of why the costs of construction projects exceed their initial estimates, a review of current rental rates, and an analysis of the use of refrigerants in equipment installed in federal buildings. CBO also estimates that it would cost GAO less than $500,000 annually to prepare the required audit. Based on information from GSA, CBO estimates that the act's requirements to establish lactation rooms in federal buildings would have an insignificant cost because it would apply only to federal buildings that are open to the public and that have lactation rooms designated for use by federal employees. Finally, CBO estimates that providing the FPS with additional law enforcement authorities would not have a significant cost.

Enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4487 would not increase direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.

CBO also reviewed provisions of the legislation that would require GSA to build a new headquarters for the Department of Energy (DOE), to be financed by exchanging or selling DOE's current headquarters in the Forrestal Building Complex in Washington, D.C. Based on information from GSA and property developers, CBO expects that constructing a new DOE headquarters could not be accomplished solely through a sale or exchange of the current facility, and would require the expenditure of additional appropriated funds, which are not authorized by this act. Under H.R. 4487, if a new headquarters facility could not be built, GSA would be directed to sell any underutilized or vacant property in the Forrestal Complex. Based on information from GSA, CBO does not expect that enacting the bill would result in more sales than would otherwise occur under current law.

H.R. 4487 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew Pickford. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

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