Public Buildings: GSA's Reinvention Initiatives

GAO discussed the General Services Administration's (GSA) public buildings program, focusing on GSA initiatives to: (1) reform its operations; (2) restructure the Public Buildings Service (PBS); and (3) determine the most cost-effective method of carrying out mission-support activities. GAO noted that: (1) GSA has a virtual monopoly over the acquisition and management of federal office space; (2) GSA has separated its policy enforcement and service delivery roles and reorganized PBS to end its monopoly of federal office space; (3) GSA plans to accelerate its reform efforts in response to the President's initiatives to reduce the size of government; (4) GSA has developed a federal operations review model to determine the most cost-effective method of operations; (5) GSA will analyze 11 major business activities to determine the most cost-effective method of ownership; (6) GSA has estimated cost-savings for the public buildings area of $0.5 billion for fiscal year (FY) 1996 and a total of $6.4 billion for the 5-year period ending FY 2000; and (7) there are many inherent legal and cultural impediments that must be resolved for GSA reforms and cost-savings efforts to succeed.