LEGISLATIVE MATTERS | Lawmakers introduce bill to decentralize federal government

WASHINGTON — A group of Ohio lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation to establish a bipartisan commission within the General Services Administration to study the relocation of executive agencies or divisions of executive agencies outside the Washington metropolitan area.

The Federal Government Decentralization Commission Act, introduced by U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, David Joyce, R-14th, and Anthony Gonzalez, R-16th, would require GSA to submit a plan to Congress for the relocation of recommended agencies or divisions, and to prioritize relocations to low-income communities or areas with expertise in the mission and goal of an executive agency or division.

"Our government belongs to all Americans, and communities across the United States should be able to benefit from the economic boost these employment centers could bring, especially to economically distressed places," Ryan said in a news release. "As we have all learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, the technology available to us today allows for seamless communication and collaboration regardless of geographic location, and is already allowing a web of federal offices and agencies across the US, such as the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta to perform their work without being inside the DC beltway."

With more than 2.7 million employees, the federal government is the largest employer in the United States. According to the Office of Personnel Management, approximately 283,000 of those employees work in the Washington metropolitan area.

This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 2:45 PM with the headline "LEGISLATIVE MATTERS | Lawmakers introduce bill to decentralize federal government."