Vol. 37, Number 6—June 2005

Senators to GSA:
Reduce Judiciary’s Rent

Eleven members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Committee chair, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and ranking minority member Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), have asked the head of the General Services Administration (GSA) to exempt the judicial branch from all rental payments except those required to operate and maintain federal court buildings. Last fiscal year, the Judiciary lost 1,350 positions or 6 percent of court staff as it attempted to deal with budget cuts and instituted a 24-month moratorium on courthouse construction in an effort to reduce rental payments projected to reach $1.2 billion by 2009.

"If rent relief is not granted to the Judiciary," the Senators wrote, "more personnel cuts will be required in the near future, including the loss of another 4,000 jobs over the next four years. In our view, this constitutes a near crisis in the federal Judiciary."

In their May 13, 2005, letter, the Senators wrote to GSA Administrator Stephen A. Perry as members of the congressional committee "responsible for ensuring fair and equitable treatment of all who enter our nation's courts." They urged that the Judiciary's current budgetary problems caused by the mandatory rental payments to GSA be addressed.

"The percentage of the Judiciary's operating budget devoted to rent payments has escalated sharply from 15.7 percent in 1986 to about 22 percent in 2004," the letter said. "During this same time, the share of the federal budget provided to the Judiciary has dwindled as Congress has sought to tackle our nation's increasing budget deficit." It was noted that neither the executive nor the legislative branch has made any cuts in personnel, and very few actual spending reductions in their programs have been implemented.

The letter also raised the issue of unequal treatment of the Judicial Branch since many buildings used by other agencies and branches of the federal government are exempt from rent. Examples cited included the Department of Defense's Pentagon and military bases, the Treasury Department's main Treasury Building, Congress' own Capitol Building and office buildings, federal prisons, embassies, NIH and nuclear facilities, VA hospitals, and many quasi-federal agencies, such as the Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC. "These federal entities have complete control over the amount of money they dedicate to real estate activities," they wrote. "The federal Judiciary does not have that same control."

"Also, there is a special problem as the Judiciary is forced to pay for buildings that have been fully amortized, not only once but several times," the Senators' letter continued. Although GSA has made changes in billing procedures that now distinguish between rent for the building shell and tenant improvements, the Judiciary still paid $438 million for building shells in fiscal year 2004, $222 million of which was for buildings older than 25 years and already paid for.

"With almost 22 percent of the Judiciary's operating budget going toward a mandatory GSA rent payment, it is no wonder that the Judiciary is experiencing severe personnel shortages," the Senators told Perry. "We also believe that it is the responsibility of the federal Judiciary to conduct court proceedings at locations that are in close proximity to the public they serve. . . . Consequently, we ask that you exercise your authority under 40 U.S. C. § 490(j) to exempt the judicial branch from all rental payments except for those required to operate and maintain federal court buildings and related costs. This would provide a savings of $483 million in the first year."

The letter was signed by Specter, Leahy, and Senators Charles E. Grassley (R-IA), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), Joe Biden (D-DE), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Mike Dewine (R-OH), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and John Cornyn (R-TX).