H.R. 1703 would direct the General Services Administration (GSA) to enter into an agreement with the National Children’s Museum to operate in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, a mixed-use facility that houses both federal and private-sector offices. Under the bill, GSA would pay the museum’s lease expenses, but could terminate the agreement if the museum no longer uses the space as a children’s museum or ceases operations as a nonprofit organization. The museum entered into a 10-year lease agreement for the space in 2017 for an annual lease payment of about $1 million.
The bill would require GSA to use funds from the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation or the International Trade Center to pay the museum’s lease obligations; under current law, those funds are primarily used for maintenance costs. By directing the GSA to use those funds for lease payments, enacting the bill would increase direct spending because the amounts in those funds are not otherwise available to be spent.
The museum is currently closed due to COVID-19 and CBO expects under H.R. 1703, GSA’s obligation to cover the museum’s lease payments would begin in early fiscal year 2022 when the museum reopens, and continue for the period of the current contract plus any renewals of the lease agreement. The current contract ends in 2027 but CBO also expects it will be renewed through at least 2031. Thus, CBO estimates implementing the bill would increase direct spending by $5 million over the 2021-2026 period and $10 million over the 2021-2031 period.
