Excess Federal Building and Property Disposal Act of 2012
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Excess Federal Building and Property Disposal Act of 2012 - (Sec. 2) Directs the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA), in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to conduct the Federal Real Property Disposal Pilot Program, under which the Administrator shall: (1) identify 15 federal government real properties that are excess or surplus and that have the highest fair market value and the greatest potential to sell, and (2) sell such properties by public auction within 5 years after the enactment of this Act. Requires the Administrator to designate an additional property for sale under the Program not later than 15 days after the sale of any excess property.
Exempts from the Program: (1) real property that is to be closed or realigned under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990; (2) properties excluded for reasons of national security by OMB; (3) certain Indian and Native Eskimo properties; (4) properties operated and maintained by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA); (5) postal properties; (6) properties used in connection with river, harbor, flood control, reclamation, or power projects; (7) properties determined to be suitable for use as a public park or recreation area; and (8) properties used for recreational and conservation purposes.
Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to submit to Congress and make publicly available a study of the effectiveness of the Program. Terminates the Program five years after the enactment of this Act.
Requires the head of each executive agency to recommend properties to the Director of OMB for disposal under the Program.
Sets forth requirements for the expedited disposal of excess real property under the Program, including that such property must be sold for cash, may not be sold for less than fair market value, and must generate monetary proceeds to the federal government. Prohibits a disposal of property under the Program as an exchange, trade, transfer, acquisition of like-kind property, or other non-cash transaction. Requires the proceeds from the sale of excess properties under the Program to be deposited into the the Treasury and 2% of such proceeds to be used for funding homeless assistance grants.
The summary continues for 8 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on March 20, 2012. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 21, 2012: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) introduced it on February 11, 2011, and 39 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 38 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 11, 2011, 5690 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5286 days ago, on March 21, 2012.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers