S. 102 — ROOMIE Act

This section defines key terms for purposes of the Act as follows: (1) "Administrator" as the Administrator of General Services; (2) "Federal agency" as defined in 40 U.S.C. §621; (3) "Federal civilian real property" as defined in section 3 of the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 (40 U.S.C. 1303 note; Public Law 114-287); and (4) "usable square feet" as defined by the Administrator.

This section sets forth congressional findings that, according to specified reports, (1) 17 federal agencies used an average of 25% or less of the capacity of their headquarters buildings, with one agency headquarters examined at 67% occupancy if all employees worked in-person; (2) in the National Capital Region, the federal government owns or leases nearly 90 million square feet of property, a sample of Washington, D.C., properties maintained 12% average capacity, billions of dollars are spent on underused buildings, and some agencies retain flagship properties despite low usage; and (3) underutilized federal buildings pose health risks, including elevated Legionella levels in six GSA-controlled public buildings since July 2023.

This section directs the head of each federal agency to amend agency policies, if necessary, not later than 120 days after enactment to require (1) at least 80% of agency employees to work in-person Monday through Friday each week, excluding legal public holidays under 5 U.S.C. §6103 as certified by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management; and (2) except as provided below, at least 60% occupancy of usable square feet in agency office space within federal civilian real property owned, leased, or controlled by the agency, as certified by the General Services Administration Administrator. If an agency lacks sufficient employees to meet the 60% space occupancy requirement, it must submit an occupancy plan not later than one year after enactment to the Administrator and specified congressional committees detailing how it will achieve 60% occupancy using employees from any federal agency, with special consideration for employees from other agencies. Not later than one year after the 120-day deadline, the Comptroller General must submit to Congress a report on implementation of these requirements, as certified by the Director and Administrator.

This section requires that, if a Federal agency fails to comply with section 4(a) by the specified deadlines, the agency or the General Services Administration (GSA), as applicable, sell owned or controlled Federal civilian real property or, for leased property, terminate the lease early (if permitted) and refrain from re-signing it in either case.