One of the lessons learned from the October shutdown, as recently discussed on this blog, is that GSA rent is subject to congressional appropriations even though the Federal Buildings Fund (FBF) has the needed money. In fact, the FBF is flush with rents collected from GSA customer agencies that expect the nation’s landlord to professionally maintain […]
The Sequester has arrived–mostly unexpected, entirely unwelcome and apparently it intends to hang around a while. What does it mean for landlords of federal-leased properties? Fortunately, probably not much. At least not much new. The federal government has been staggering from crisis to crisis for years. A Look at the Cuts The great concern with sequestration is […]
It’s Memorial Day weekend and it happens to also be the first weekend of a new endeavor by our team to post a new article every single calendar day. So, while others frolic on the beach or man their grills, we write. Our topic this weekend is obvious: we will write about our nation’s military […]
Today we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America. We thought it’s also worth recognizing another important birthday on this July 4th – that of Calvin Coolidge who was born July 4, 1872 and later went on to become the 30th president of our nation. Coolidge’s […]
If you think getting an immigration bill, say, or healthcare reform through a bitterly divided Congress is hard, try an annual budget. In mid-September, Congress, having been unable to agree on that budget, passed what is called a continuing resolution (CR), an instrument that, absent just such an agreed-upon budget, allows for the ongoing funding […]
Surprisingly, the U.S. Constitution makes no provisions for a federal budget and, in fact, the federal government operated without a comprehensive budget process until 1921. The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, which has been amended many times, provides for a federal budget system and requires the President to prepare and submit an annual budget […]
There’s good news if you’re a federal employee, assuming that President Obama’s proposed 2016 budget is enacted intact: It will come with a 1.3 percent pay increase. Now, 1.3 percent isn’t a big hike, but it’s better than the 1 percent that came in FY 2015, and certainly better than the years that were leaner […]
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has been suffering through budget cuts that have dramatically reduced funding for the construction, acquisition, renovations and even the basic maintenance of federal buildings. This has served to increase the federal government’s reliance on leased space, benefitting private-sector landlords. This article seeks to cast some light on what is […]
Kevin Warsh, a Federal Reserve governor during the Great Recession, noted in a Wall Street Journal op-ed earlier this year, “If you’ve seen one financial crisis, you’ve seen one financial crisis.” That is to say, all…
If you think getting an immigration bill, say, or healthcare reform through a bitterly divided Congress is hard, try an annual budget. In mid-September, Congress, having been unable to agree on that budget, passed what is…
“It’s really expensive to be poor.” This was the comment from Dr. Dorothy Robyn, the GSA’s Public Buildings Commissioner, at yesterday’s Federal Real Property Association conference in Washington, DC. How true! GSA’s inability to adequately fund improvements to its real estate assets is costing it money on both sides of the ledger–revenue and operating costs. […]
Each year, the House and Senate authorize each federal agency, department, or program to spend a specific amount of money, and the President signs the bill into law. But this money may not be spent until Congress also has explicitly appropriated it for a given purpose. An agency may, for example, be authorized to spend […]
Yesterday, President Obama submitted his FY 2013 budget to Congress. What was perhaps most surprising was that the budget, on the top line, actually grew slightly to $3.803 trillion. As the Brookings Institute’s William Gallston noted in a brief opinion piece published today, the budget largely reflects Obama’s political strategy going into this election year. […]
The House Appropriations Committee voted last Wednesday (June 20, 2012) to cut about $100 million from the scandal-plagued GSA’s budget for next year. The legislation—as well as an amendment that denies bonuses to GSA officials under investigation for misconduct—was approved by the full committee with a voice vote. The approved FY 2013 Financial Services and […]
