WASHINGTON, DC-Congress continues to push forward plans to sell billions of dollars of federal real estate via an independent Civilian Property Realignment Commission. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved a bill last week, the “Civilian Property Realignment Act,” by a vote of 30 to 22.
The bill establishes an independent civilian commission, similar to the Base Closure and Realignment Commission that will make property recommendations to Congress--recommendations that can only be disapproved en bloc by the President and Congress. It also sets aside $65 million in initial seed funding. After that, the process is expected to be self-funded by sales proceeds.
The bill notes a widely-cited figure of $15 billion in savings that will result from these sales. However, in July a hearing by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee suggested that the estimated $15 billion in savings was overstated. Committee members pointed to a Congressional Budget Office finding that in order to generate savings, additional properties would have to be identified and their value would have to be higher than those currently listed.
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Despite such doubts, the idea to sell off federally-owned real estate has been steadily slogging its way through the legislative process, no doubt fueled by the budget crunch.
The concept began to take serious shape in May, when the White House released a list of excess federal properties that it was proposing to sell and suggested this BRAC-like structure as way to move forward.
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