Federal Capital Revolving Fund Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1926 To establish a Federal Capital Revolving Fund to assist Federal agencies in purchasing capital assets, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 27, 2021 Mr. VAN HOLLEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To establish a Federal Capital Revolving Fund to assist Federal agencies in purchasing capital assets, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Capital Re- 4 volving Fund Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 7 (1) sudden increases in funding for purchases 8 of federally owned capital assets are difficult to fit 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1926.IS S1926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1926 IS within funding available under discretionary spend- 1 ing limits; 2 (2) failure to recapitalize or replace Federal 3 capital assets on a regular schedule ultimately in- 4 creases the cost to taxpayers of delivering services; 5 (3) in appendix J, entitled ‘‘Principles of Budg- 6 eting for Capital Asset Acquisitions’’, of Circular A– 7 11, the Office of Management and Budget rec- 8 ommended combining assets in capital acquisition 9 accounts to accommodate spikes in funding capital 10 acquisitions; 11 (4) in the document entitled ‘‘Budgeting for 12 Federal Investment’’ and dated April 15, 2021, the 13 Congressional Budget Office states that there is, ‘‘a 14 budgetary incentive to opt for short-term leases even 15 if they are more expensive than long-term leases or 16 purchases,’’ and identifies a Federal Capital Revolv- 17 ing Fund as a potential solution; and 18 (5) the document of the Government Account- 19 ability Office numbered GAO–14–239 found that 20 budgeting for federally owned capital assets could be 21 improved by creating a Government-wide capital ac- 22 quisition fund with upfront mandatory funding— 23 (A) to pay for projects estimated to exceed 24 a certain total-cost threshold; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1926.IS S1926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1926 IS (B) to be repaid by annual discretionary 1 funding provided by agency subcommittee ap- 2 propriators. 3 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to improve 4 the means by which the Federal Government budgets for 5 expensive, federally owned, civilian facilities by— 6 (1) establishing a mandatory revolving fund to 7 pay the upfront costs of acquiring those facilities in 8 a manner that ensures that the acquisition costs do 9 not compete with smaller purchases and operating 10 expenses for funding under applicable discretionary 11 spending limits; and 12 (2) requiring agencies to use discretionary ap- 13 propriations to replenish the revolving fund referred 14 to in paragraph (1) over a several-year period as the 15 agencies use the facilities described in that para- 16 graph to meet Federal mission needs. 17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 18 In this Act: 19 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 20 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv- 21 ices. 22 (2) AGENCY.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘agency’’ 24 means any agency included in a list under para- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1926.IS S1926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1926 IS graph (1) or (2) of section 901(b) of title 31, 1 United States Code. 2 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘agency’’ does 3 not include the Department of Defense. 4 (3) DISCRETIONARY APPROPRIATIONS.—The 5 term ‘‘discretionary appropriations’’ has the mean- 6 ing given that term in section 250(c) of the Bal- 7 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 8 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900(c)). 9 (4) ELIGIBLE AGENCY PROJECT.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 11 agency project’’ means an action by an agen- 12 cy— 13 (i) to acquire (including any related 14 activity relating to siting, design, manage- 15 ment and inspection, construction, or com- 16 missioning, and including all costs associ- 17 ated with temporary space and the acquisi- 18 tion of associated furniture, fixtures, and 19 equipment necessary to furnish the Federal 20 facility for initial occupancy) a facility for 21 use by the agency as a Federal facility, 22 through— 23 (I) purchase; 24 (II) construction; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1926.IS S1926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1926 IS (III) manufacture; 1 (IV) lease-purchase; 2 (V) installment purchase; 3 (VI) outlease-leaseback; 4 (VII) exchange; or 5 (VIII) modernization by renova- 6 tion; 7 (ii) to pay to the Administrator an ad- 8 ministrative fee for each acquisition de- 9 scribed in clause (i), in accordance with 10 section 5(h); and 11 (iii) the total cost of which is not less 12 than $250,000,000. 13 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘eligible 14 agency project’’ does not include— 15 (i) an acquisition for resale in the or- 16 dinary course of agency operations; 17 (ii) the acquisition of any consumable 18 good, such as operating materials or sup- 19 plies; 20 (iii) an activity for normal mainte- 21 nance or repair of real property; 22 (iv) the payment of any salary or 23 other operating expense of an agency; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1926.IS S1926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1926 IS (v) the provision by an agency to any 1 non-Federal individual or entity of— 2 (I) a grant; 3 (II) a tax incentive; or 4 (III) a Federal credit assistance 5 instrument; or 6 (vi) the execution of any capital lease 7 pursuant to which title does not automati- 8 cally pass to the Federal Government. 9 (5) FEDERAL FACILITY.—The term ‘‘Federal 10 facility’’ means a structure on real property— 11 (A) that has a useful life of not less than 12 25 years, as determined by the Administrator; 13 and 14 (B) within which 1 or more Federal em- 15 ployees or personnel carry out, or are proposed 16 to carry out, an agency mission. 17 (6) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Fed- 18 eral Capital Revolving Fund established by section 19 4(a). 20 (7) GSA-AFFECTED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘GSA- 21 affected agency’’ means an agency that acquires real 22 property through the General Services Administra- 23 tion pursuant to section 3307 of title 40, United 24 States Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1926.IS S1926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1926 IS (8) PURCHASE TRANSFER.—The term ‘‘pur- 1 chase transfer’’ means an amount that is— 2 (A) approved by an appropriations Act to 3 be transferred from the Fund to a purchasing 4 agency under section 5; and 5 (B) not less than the amount required 6 under section 5(d). 7 (9) PURCHASING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘pur- 8 chasing agency’’ means an agency that receives from 9 the Fund a purchase transfer to pay the cost of an 10 eligible agency project. 11 SEC. 4. FEDERAL CAPITAL REVOLVING FUND. 12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 13 Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 14 ‘‘Federal Capital Revolving Fund’’, consisting of the 15 amounts deposited under subsection (b), to be adminis- 16 tered by the Administrator. 17 (b) DEPOSITS.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 18 deposit in the Fund— 19 (1) as soon as practicable after the date of en- 20 actment of this Act, out of any funds in the Treas- 21 ury not otherwise appropriated, $10,000,000,000 to 22 capitalize the Fund; and 23 (2) any amounts received from purchasing 24 agencies through repayments under section 6. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1926.IS S1926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1926 IS (c) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts in the Fund shall— 1 (1) be used only for the purpose described in 2 subsection (d)(1); and 3 (2) remain available until expended. 4 (d) USE OF FUND.—Amounts in the Fund— 5 (1) shall be available only on approval of a pur- 6 chase transfer to a purchasing agency to pay the 7 costs of an eligible agency project, in accordance 8 with this Act; and 9 (2) may not be transferred or reprogrammed 10 for any purpose other than the purpose specified in 11 paragraph (1). 12 SEC. 5. PURCHASE TRANSFERS. 13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 14 (1) APPLICABLE COMMITTEE OF JURISDIC- 15 TION.—The term ‘‘applicable committee of jurisdic- 16 tion’’, with respect to an unaffected agency, 17 means— 18 (A) the Committee on Appropriations of 19 the Senate; 20 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 21 the House of Representatives; and 22 (C) any other committee of the Senate or 23 the House of Representatives, the approval of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1926.IS S1926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1926 IS which is required for the unaffected agency to 1 acquire real property. 2 (2) UNAFFECTED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘unaf- 3 fected agency’’ means an agency that acquires real 4 property pursuant to an authority other than the 5 General Services Administration. 6 (b) REQUESTS.— 7 (1) GSA-AFFECTED AGENCIES.—To be eligible 8 to receive a purchase transfer from the Fund, a 9 GSA-affected agency shall submit to the Adminis- 10 trator, the Committees on Appropriations and Envi- 11 ronment and Public Works of the Senate, and the 12 Committees on Appropriations and Transportation 13 and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 14 a request that describes— 15 (A) the eligible agency project proposed to 16 be carried out by the GSA-affected agency 17 using the purchase transfer; and 18 (B) with respect to the eligible agency 19 project described in subparagraph (A)— 20 (i) each Federal facility proposed to 21 be included; 22 (ii) an estimated total cost; and 23 (iii) a proposed schedule. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1926.IS S1926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1926 IS (2) UNAFFECTED AGENCIES.—To be eligible to 1 receive a purchase transfer from the Fund, an unaf- 2 fected agency shall submit to each applicable com- 3 mittee of jurisdiction a request that describes— 4 (A) the eligible agency project proposed to 5 be carried out by the unaffected agency using 6 the purchase transfer; and 7 (B) with respect to the eligible agency 8 project described in subparagraph (A)— 9 (i) each Federal facility proposed to 10 be included; 11 (ii) an estimated total cost; and 12 (iii) a proposed schedule. 13 (c) APPROVAL.— 14 (1) NOTICE FOR GSA-AFFECTED AGENCIES.— 15 On approval by the Administrator of a request sub- 16 mitted by a GSA-affected agency under subsection 17 (b)(1), the Administrator shall submit to Congress a 18 notice of the approval in accordance with subsections 19 (b) and (h) of section 3307 of title 40, United States 20 Code. 21 (2) CONGRESS.—On receipt of a request for a 22 purchase transfer from the Fund and the notice of 23 approval by the Administrator for GSA-affected 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1926.IS S1926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1926 IS agencies required under paragraph (1), Congress 1 may enact legislation— 2 (A) approving the applicable eligible agen- 3 cy project and the purchase transfer, subject 4 to— 5 (i) for a request of a GSA-affected 6 agency, subsections (c) and (d) of section 7 3307 of title 40, United States Code; or 8 (ii) for a request of an unaffected 9 agency, any applicable laws (including reg- 10 ulations); and 11 (B) appropriating an amount equal to the 12 first repayment amount relating to the ap- 13 proved eligible agency project. 14 (3) ADMINISTRATOR.—The Administrator may 15 transfer amounts in the Fund to an agency only if— 16 (A) Congress has enacted legislation pur- 17 suant to paragraph (2)(A) approving— 18 (i) the eligible agency project of the 19 agency; and 20 (ii) the purchase transfer; and 21 (B) the agency has— 22 (i) received appropriations pursuant 23 to section 6(e) for the first repayment 24 amount; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1926.IS S1926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1926 IS (ii) made the first repayment to the 1 Fund in accordance with section 6. 2 (4) SECRETARY OF TREASURY.—The Secretary 3 of the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of 4 the Office of Management and Budget and the head 5 of the applicable purchasing agency, may establish 6 within that purchasing agency new accounts for the 7 purpose of facilitating budgetary and financial re- 8 porting of the transactions authorized by this Act. 9 (d) AMOUNT.—The total amount of a purchase trans- 10 fer shall be not less than an amount equal to the sum 11 of— 12 (1) the full cost of the relevant eligible agency 13 project, which shall be not less than a useful seg- 14 ment of the applicable Federal facility; and 15 (2) the administrative fee required to be paid 16 by the relevant purchasing agency under subsection 17 (h), as determined by the Administrator. 18 (e) AVAILABILITY.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 20 purchase transfer to a purchasing agency— 21 (A) shall remain available until expended; 22 (B) shall be used solely to pay the costs of 23 an eligible agency project; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1926.IS S1926 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1926 IS (C) may not be transferred or repro- 1 grammed for any other purpose. 2 (2) RETURN OF UNUSED AMOUNTS.—Any por- 3 tion of a purchase transfer that is not necessary to 4 pay for the total cost of an eligible agency project 5 shall be returned to the Fund, as follows: 6 (A) TIMING.—Any unobligated purchase 7 transfer amounts shall be returned to the 8 Fund— 9 (i) after the relevant eligible agency 10 project is substantially complete, as deter- 11 mined by the applicable purchasing agency; 12 and 13 (ii) by not later than 2 years after the 14 date on which the most recent outlay of 15 funds from the purchase transfer by the 16 purchasing agency occurred. 17 (B) UPWARD ADJUSTMENTS.—If, after the 18 return of unused purchase transfer amounts 19 under subparagraph (A), there [Text truncated for display. 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