Financial Savings Of Moving Federal Department HQs Out Of DC
Move the federal department headquarters out of Washington DC to save money.
Federal department headquarters are all found in Washington DC as of right now. This includes the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Education, the Department of revenue, and much more. What if these headquarters were to move out of DC? What kind of financial savings could there be?
The Government Accountability Office found that it is possible to save money by bargaining more competitively for lease spaces for the various agencies when unnecessary leasing fees are eliminated.
The GSA’s lease rates exceed comparable market rates by 10% or more in 714 leases that auditors reviewed.
GSA, or General Service Administration, has the inability to achieve lower rates because the competition among private lessors for all of these leases is extremely limited.
Staying in Washington DC, therefore, is a bad idea for the federal department headquarters. There has been plenty of representatives who have already made suggestions of moving the Department of Agriculture to where the farmers really are and moving various other department headquarters out to where the people are in order to gain a better understanding of the needs of the individuals that they are supposed to be supporting.
DC is dominated by the federal government. Approximately 467,000 people in greater Washington are employed by the federal government. Although DC has been shifting to become more of a tech and media hub, there is still too much of the federal government located here.
Why Move?
One of the main reasons to move the federal department headquarters out of Washington DC is to save money. The cost of living is currently rated as a 158.5 in DC, which is in comparison to the US average of 100. This means that housing, salaries, and the overall cost of living is considerably more expensive in Washington DC.
By moving the various department headquarters to where they do would be at home with their constituents, it could lead to substantial savings on all levels.
Representative Tim Ryan proposed moving the federal agencies out of Washington DC as early as last April. He noted that modern technology makes it easier for people to collaborate despite being in different geographical locations. He gave the example of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention being able to operate effectively despite being located in Atlanta, Georgia instead of the capital area.
The Department of Agriculture could easily move to Iowa or Nebraska while the Department of Labor could work in areas such as Toledo or Detroit. Going back to the cost of living, Detroit has a cost-of-living rating of 72.9 while Omaha has a rating of 88.0 – both considerably lower than the 158.5 of Washington DC.
The auditors who looked at the findings of the GSA leases made the recommendation that tenant agencies should review their building requirements and geographic location as a way to enhance competition.
See How Your Tax Dollars are Spent
All of this is being brought up because it impacts what the federal government does with tax money. If you don’t want your tax dollars being spent on expensive leases in Washington DC, speak up. We still live in a democratic society, which means that the people have a right to be heard.
Plenty of representatives have identified the need to move federal department headquarters out of Washington DC and it’s clear that there would be significant financial savings.
What do you think about moving headquarters out of DC? Where do you think they should go?
Learn more about what is going on within the federal government and have your voice heard by visiting Rule 72 Initiative for more information.
The Rule 72 Initiative is hard at work to repeal the law (Rule 72) that prohibits moving functions of the federal government away from Washington, D.C. If these ideas sound like a positive step towards truly draining the swamp, here are some ways to get involved:
