I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1940 

To establish a public buildings public-private partnership pilot program, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2021 

Mr. PENCE (for himself, Mr. WEBSTER of Florida, and Mr. GUEST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To establish a public buildings public-private partnership 

pilot program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Performance-Based 

5 Public Buildings Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PUBLIC BUILDINGS PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP 

7 PILOT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 33 of title 40, United 

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

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1 ‘‘§ 3319. Public buildings public-private partnership 

2 pilot program 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall 

4 carry out a pilot program to enter into public-private part5 nerships to acquire public buildings pursuant to the re6 quirements of this section. 

7 ‘‘(b) IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECTS.—Not later than 

8 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad9 ministrator shall identify not less than 5 and not more 

10 than 10 projects for acquiring space for the purposes of 

11 public buildings using public-private partnerships. 

12 ‘‘(c) SUBMISSION OF PLAN AND PROSPECTUSES.— 

13 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this 

14 section, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee 

15 on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 

16 Representatives and the Committee on Environment and 

17 Public Works of the Senate— 

18 ‘‘(1) prospectuses, in accordance with section 

19 3307 of title 40, United States Code, for each 

20 project identified under subsection (b); and 

21 ‘‘(2) an execution and management plan detail22 ing how each project will be managed, project team 

23 timelines for each project, and, notwithstanding sub24 section (d), recommendations on commencement 

25 dates based on ensuring proper staffing, resources, 

26 and management. 

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1 ‘‘(d) COMMENCEMENT.—Subject to the availability of 

2 appropriations, a project submitted under subsection (c) 

3 that is authorized pursuant to section 3307 shall com4 mence not later than 1 year after the date on which such 

5 authorization occurs, unless otherwise indicated in the re6 spective committee resolution authorizing the project. 

7 ‘‘(e) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) GSA PERSONNEL.—In carrying out the 

9 pilot program the Administrator shall identify and 

10 use General Services Administration personnel with 

11 knowledge and experience in complex real estate 

12 transactions. 

13 ‘‘(2) CONTRACTED SERVICES.—The Adminis14 trator shall, to the extent practicable and subject to 

15 appropriations Acts, use contracts, including non16 appropriated contracts, for services necessary to 

17 carry out this section. 

18 ‘‘(f) COMPLIANCE WITH BUDGETARY RULES.—For 

19 budgetary scorekeeping purposes, a project carried out 

20 under this section shall be treated in a manner consistent 

21 with the requirements for scoring a leaseback from a pub22 lic-private partnership under Appendix B of Circular A– 

23 11 of the Office of Management and Budget, as of the 

24 date of enactment of this section. 

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1 ‘‘(g) GAO STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the 

2 occupancy of projects authorized under this section, the 

3 Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct 

4 a review of such projects and submit to the Committee 

5 on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 

6 Representatives and the Committee on Environment and 

7 Public Works of the Senate a report that includes— 

8 ‘‘(1) a review and evaluation of the public-pri9 vate partnerships executed under this section and a 

10 comparison of such agreements to similar projects 

11 completed as Government construction, including a 

12 comparison of timetables and costs; and 

13 ‘‘(2) any recommendations on the use of public14 private partnerships as options for meeting Federal 

15 Government space needs. 

16 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

17 definitions apply: 

18 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis19 trator’ means the Administrator of General Services. 

20 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC BUILDING.—The term ‘public 

21 building’ has the meaning given the term in section 

22 3301. 

23 ‘‘(3) PERFORMANCE-BASED MANAGEMENT AND

24 OPERATIONS AGREEMENT.—The term ‘performanceVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940
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1 based management and operations agreement’ 

2 means an agreement that— 

3 ‘‘(A) reflects an obligation by the non-Fed4 eral entity to design, build, finance, deliver, op5 erate and maintain an asset; 

6 ‘‘(B) requires the non-Federal entity to 

7 provide the General Services Administration a 

8 single point of responsibility and obligation; 

9 ‘‘(C) stipulates all requirements of the 

10 General Services Administration and contains 

11 the terms and conditions for annual perform12 ance-based availability payments in accordance 

13 with the non-Federal entity meeting or exceed14 ing those requirements; 

15 ‘‘(D) stipulates the terms and conditions 

16 for reductions of any or all availability pay17 ments to the non-Federal entity for any given 

18 period the asset is unavailable to the Govern19 ment or otherwise not delivered, operated, or 

20 maintained in accordance with the requirements 

21 included in the agreement; and 

22 ‘‘(E) stipulates the terms and conditions 

23 for termination and includes no obligation on 

24 the part of the Government to renew any sucVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1940.IH H1940
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1 cessive leases that may be included in such 

2 project. 

3 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP.—The 

4 term ‘public-private partnership’ means a real prop5 erty agreement for the purposes of providing office 

6 space for the Federal Government that meets the 

7 following criteria: 

8 ‘‘(A) The agreement includes a ground9 lease to a non-Federal party with a subsequent 

10 lease back of the improvements. 

11 ‘‘(B) The entity that is the lessor of the 

12 leaseback of improvements is entirely non-Fed13 eral. 

14 ‘‘(C) The leaseback meets the criteria for 

15 an operating lease under Appendix B of Cir16 cular A–11 of the Office of Management and 

17 Budget, as of the date of enactment of this sec18 tion. 

19 ‘‘(D) The project shall, to the extent prac20 ticable, be operated and maintained by the non21 Federal entity subject to a performance-based 

22 management and operations agreement entered 

23 into between the entity and the Adminis24 trator.’’. 

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1 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

2 The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 33 of 

3 title 40, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

‘‘3319. Public buildings public-private partnership pilot program.’’. 

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