Ernst: Washington-opoly is a Losing Game for Taxpayers
WASHINGTON – With the federal government clinging to a bloated and costly real estate portfolio of 7,700 vacant buildings and 2,265 largely empty properties, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) says it’s game over for Washington-opoly, the swamp’s backwards game where taxpayers always lose.
Ernst unveiled her board of underutilized federal fixer uppers that her FOR SALE Act will put on the auction block to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and save taxpayers billions more in overdue maintenance.
Click here to watch Ernst play the game.
Ernst’s full remarks below:
“Uncle Sam is the nation’s largest landlord.
“Yet, he will never win a round of Monopoly, the classic boardgame where players try to make money—and avoid going bankrupt—by buying, renting, and selling property.
“That’s because Uncle Sam, who is already $37 trillion in debt, refuses to sell off unused and unneeded properties that are costing tens of millions of dollars a year to maintain.
“Many of Uncle Sam’s properties are also fixer uppers, requiring billions of dollars in much-needed renovations and overdue upgrades.
“Some of which are listed on this board.
“Holding onto unaffordable properties that are nearly vacant, while being just a roll or two away from going bankrupt, is not only a losing strategy in Monopoly, but also a bad gameplan in real life.
“But Uncle Sam gets away with it because Washington plays by its own set of rules.
“And no matter how you roll the dice, Washington-opoly is a losing game for taxpayers.
“To demonstrate, why don’t we play a round?
“We rolled a three!
“We landed on the Department of Agriculture, South Building in Washington, D.C.
“And guess what folks?
“It’s owned by good ole Uncle Sam!
“Let’s look at the stats for the USDA South Building.
“78% of this building isn’t even being used on a day-to-day basis.
“Yet, we are paying more than $11 million for utilities every year;
“And the building requires $1.7 billion for repairs and upgrades.
“We could hold onto this property and pay these costs for a nearly empty building…
“Or we could sell it and make $261 million or more.
“What would you do?
“Well, Uncle Sam has decided to keep it and is passing along the costs to taxpayers.
“Two!
“We landed on Community Chest!
“Let’s pick up a card.
“PAY $81 MILLION FOR UNUSED PROPERTY.
“That’s right folks, every year, Uncle Sam pays out over $81 million maintaining underutilized offices.
“This includes nearly 7,700 vacant buildings and another 2,265 that are largely empty.
“No wonder the non-partisan Public Buildings Reform Board, says Washington’s ‘wasteful real estate practices would not endure for so long in a private sector company.’
“But when playing Washington-opoly, Uncle Sam doesn’t pay the costs for his wasteful decisions, you do!
“How about take one more turn…
“Six!
“This time we landed on Chance, so we get to pick another card.
“There’s our Chance card.
“PASS THE FOR SALE ACT AND ADVANCE TO GO.
“Folks, that is exactly the type of chance we need to protect taxpayers.
“Selling off Uncle Sam’s unneeded property has long been tied up by overly restrictive red tape and bureaucratic barriers.
“To revamp Washington’s real estate rules, I introduced The FOR SALE Act.
“Passing this bill will put six pieces of prime property in the nation’s capital on the auction block immediately.
“Selling just these spots will bring in at least $400 million while also canceling costs, including $2.9 billion for overdue maintenance.
“This is just the first step in downsizing Uncle Sam’s unused, unneeded, and unaffordable real estate holdings.
“To any interested potential buyers, you can build a house, or even a hotel, on these properties and earn rent, just like in Monopoly.
“But best of all, taxpayers finally get to advance to ‘Go’ and collect $400 million.
“That, folks, is how you win the game!”
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