Smart Space Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7388 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7388

To direct the Administrator of General Services to convene consultation
     meetings to identify alternative financing solutions for the
  construction of new public buildings that will reduce costs to the
              Federal Government, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 5, 2026

 Mr. Burlison introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To direct the Administrator of General Services to convene consultation
     meetings to identify alternative financing solutions for the
  construction of new public buildings that will reduce costs to the
              Federal Government, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Smart Space Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. PROJECT RECOMMENDATIONS.

    (a) Meetings and Consultations.--Not later than 90 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General Services
shall convene consultation meetings to identify alternative financing
solutions for the construction or renovation of public buildings, or
necessary work to prepare such buildings for disposal that will reduce
costs to the Federal Government.
    (b) Meetings.--In convening consultation meetings under subsection
(a), the Administrator shall include--
            (1) experts related to private commercial real estate;
            (2) experts related to Federal real estate; and
            (3) if available, State real estate experts experienced
        with leveraging private financing for public buildings and
        facilities.
    (c) Report and Recommendations.--Not later than 120 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the
President--
            (1) recommendations on types of public-private partnerships
        and alternative financing methods best suited for meeting the
        public building needs of the Federal Government; and
            (2) a list of recommended projects related to public
        buildings for which such methods should be used with details on
        which methods and types of public-private partnerships are
        recommended for each project.
    (d) Recommended Project List.--In submitting a list of recommended
projects under subsection (c)(2), the Administrator shall submit
projects that the Administrator determines--
            (1) serve core missions of the Federal Government for which
        maintaining the functions in federally owned space over the
        long-term is critical;
            (2) will result in either consolidations or relocations of
        Federal departments or agencies out of costly, inefficient, and
        underutilized space that the Administrator intends to sell or
        dispose of once vacated; and
            (3) with respect to standard office space, will result in
        meeting a minimum building utilization of 60 percent or greater
        as defined in section 2302 of the Thomas R. Carper Water
        Resources Development Act of 2024 (40 U.S.C. 584 note).
    (e) Transparency.--
            (1) Report.--The Administrator shall submit the report
        under subsection (c) to the Committee on Transportation and
        Infrastructure in the House and the Committee on Environment
        and Public Works in the Senate and make such report publicly
        available on the website of the General Services
        Administration.
            (2) Timeline.--The Administrator of General Services shall
        maintain on the website of the General Services Administration
        information on the process under this Act, including any
        timelines and milestones.
            (3) Delays.--The Administrator shall report directly to the
        President and Congress any delays with respect to the timing
        and milestones described in paragraph (2).
            (4) Meetings.--Meetings pursuant to subsection (a) shall be
        noticed and open to the public and shall not be subject to
        chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code.
    (f) Project Approvals.--The President may direct the Administrator
to proceed with any projects on the recommended project list, subject
to future appropriations and subsections (g) and (i).
    (g) Prospectuses.--Projects described in subsection (c)(2) that are
approved by the President shall be subject to section 3307 of title 40,
United States Code, except that prospectuses for such projects shall be
submitted to the Committees listed in subsection (e)(1) not later than
30 days after approval by the President.
    (h) Accountability.--Any proposed types of alternative financing
and public-private partnerships shall include terms and conditions that
ensure accountability and performance.
    (i) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed
as providing the Administrator of General Services any additional legal
authorities beyond the authorities existing prior to enactment of this
Act.
    (j) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Alternate financing; public-private partnership.--The
        terms ``alternate financing'' and ``public-private
        partnership'' may include--
                    (A) agreements that reflect an obligation by a non-
                Federal entity to design, build, finance, operate, and
                maintain an asset, or a combination thereof; and
                    (B) a ground-lease to a non-Federal party with a
                subsequent lease back of the improvements.
            (2) Public building.--The term ``public building'' has the
        meaning given such term in section 3301 of title 40, United
        States Code.
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