Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) and U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) introduced the bipartisan Federal Land Asset Inventory Reform (FLAIR) Act. The bill requires the Department of Interior (DOI) to increase transparency and efficiency by conducting an inventory of its federal property holdings and integrating the findings into one database that can track and manage property.

“The current system from tracking the federal government’s real property is inefficient and redundant. The FLAIR Act improves data management to help eliminate fraud, waste and redundancies, and it’s something I’ve been focused on since my days doing research for Senator William Proxmire’s ‘Golden Fleece’ awards, which pointed out wasteful government spending,” said Rep. Kind. “The federal government needs to be taking steps to use the technology available to increase transparency and streamline operations.”

“Transparency ensures a more effective, efficient and honest government. Businesses must create and maintain accurate databases in order to pay taxes and it is disappointing the federal government must be forced to apply this same standard to itself. The lack of a database deprives citizens of exercising the oversight necessary for good government. I am happy to introduce this legislation with Representative Kind and help modernize the federal government,” said Rep. Cramer.

The federal government is the largest landowner in the United States, managing an estimated total of 660 million acres or one-third of the total land area. A study conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that managing federal real property is an area of the federal government that is most susceptible to waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer money.

Federal land managers often do not have precise and updated data detailing exactly what lands and infrastructure the federal government owns, because there is not one current and accurate database available. A new inventory and updated management database would identify and eliminate redundancy and duplication that costs millions of taxpayer dollars each year.