Introduction of the District of Columbia Public-Private Partnerships Home Rule Act

Floor Speech

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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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