[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 163 (Tuesday, October 2, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS 
                             HOME RULE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 2, 2018

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the District of Columbia 
Public-Private Partnerships Home Rule Act. This bill would clarify the 
District of Columbia's authority to enter into public-private 
partnerships (P3s), like other jurisdictions in the United States. This 
bill makes it clear that the federal Anti-Deficiency Act (ADA), which 
uniquely applies to the District, does not prohibit the District from 
entering into P3s. This bill provides legal certainty that the District 
may enter into multi-year contracts to design, construct, improve, 
maintain, operate, manage and/or finance projects procured pursuant to 
a local D.C. law, the Public-Private Partnership Act of 2014. The 
District recently began the procurement process for its first-ever P3s: 
rehabilitating the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters (Henry 
J. Daly Building) and modernizing streetlights.
  Federal law potentially limits the authority of only one 
jurisdiction, the District of Columbia, to enter into P3s. The federal 
government, many states and other countries have used P3 s. There is no 
reason that the District should not be able to take advantage of this 
option. Among other benefits, P3s will free up District funds for 
pressing needs, such as education and health care, that would otherwise 
be spent on infrastructure.
  The federal ADA prohibits the federal and D.C. governments from 
obligating or expending funds in advance or in excess of an 
appropriation. If the District could use P3s, it would not have to 
appropriate all the funds upfront, freeing up funds for the District to 
spend on other matters. An ADA violation may occur if the District 
terminates a P3 contract. Under P3 contracts, the District would make 
payments on an annual basis over the life of a contract, and the 
District would appropriate the funds for such payments annually. 
However, upon termination, the District would have to pay all the costs 
incurred up to that point, but would not yet have appropriated all the 
funds for such payments, potentially causing an ADA violation.
  Under D.C. law,

     a `public-private partnership' means the method in the 
     District for delivering a qualified project using a long-
     term, performance-based agreement between a public entity and 
     a private entity or entities where appropriate risks and 
     benefits can be allocated in a cost-effective manner between 
     the public and private entities in which:
       (A) A private entity performs functions normally undertaken 
     by the government, but the public entity remains ultimately 
     accountable for the qualified project and its public 
     function; and
       (B) The District may retain ownership or control in the 
     project asset and the private entity may be given additional 
     decision-making rights in determining how the asset is 
     financed, developed, constructed, operated, and maintained 
     over its life cycle.

  This bill is an important step to increase home rule for the 
District, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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