HR189-119

What This Bill Does

The Securities and Exchange Commission Real Estate Leasing Authority Revocation Act amends title 40 to remove the SEC's future authority to lease general-purpose office space on its own. On and after enactment, the SEC may not lease such space directly. The GSA Administrator may lease general-purpose office space for the SEC under section 585 and the title 40 public-buildings chapter. The bill preserves SEC leases entered before enactment, so existing leases are not invalidated or otherwise affected. It also requires the Comptroller General to update GAO's 2016 report, GAO-16-648, on federal entities with independent leasing authority for domestic offices and warehouses. GAO must update Appendix II, determine which independent leasing authorities have been rescinded or amended, identify the number and amount of office and warehouse space leased by entities with such authorities, assess how much those agencies use GSA leasing including delegated authority, and identify progress on prior recommendations. The report goes to House Transportation and Infrastructure, Senate Environment and Public Works, and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Who Benefits and How

The General Services Administration, centralized federal real-estate managers, congressional transportation committees, congressional public-works committees, congressional homeland-security oversight staff, taxpayers, federal leasing watchdogs, GAO analysts, and agencies evaluating leasing delegations benefit from moving future SEC general-office leasing into the GSA framework and from updated government-wide data on independent leasing authorities.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC facilities staff, SEC procurement officials, SEC regional office planners, General Services Administration leasing staff, Government Accountability Office analysts, federal entities with independent leasing authority, real estate brokers serving SEC directly, landlords with SEC-focused leasing strategies, and committee report reviewers must shift future SEC office leasing to GSA, preserve existing lease obligations, compile leasing-authority data, and review prior GAO recommendation progress.

Key Provisions

• Prohibits the SEC from directly leasing general-purpose office space after enactment.
• Authorizes GSA to lease general-purpose office space for the SEC.
• Preserves SEC leases entered before enactment.
• Requires GAO to update its 2016 independent-leasing-authority report.
• Requires GAO review of rescinded or amended authorities, leased office and warehouse space, GSA use, delegation of authority, and recommendation implementation.