Steube Introduces Bill to Free Business from Government Competition
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Congressman Greg Steube (R-Fla.) introduced the Freedom from Government Competition Act of 2019 to increase opportunities for private businesses to provide goods and services to the federal government without the threat of unfair competition from a government agency.
“Reports show that approximately 1.2 million federal government employees are in positions that are commercial in nature,” explained Congressman Steube following the introduction of the bill. “At a time when our annual deficit is nearly $800 billion and our national debt is over $23 trillion, we simply cannot afford to prolong an inefficient bureaucracy and have the government providing goods and services better left to private businesses.”
This bill would codify an official federal government policy that the government should not compete with its citizens, but instead rely on the private sector for commercially available goods and services. It also requires all federal agencies review all commercial activities to assure performance is providing the best value to the taxpayer and to implement an appropriation action or reform, regardless of whether the activity stays in-house or is transitioned to the private sector.
The bill does not mandate privatization, but rather encourages a system where private businesses could compete alongside the federal government for the opportunity to perform certain functions, potentially at a lower cost to the taxpayer.
A Senate companion bill to this legislation was also introduced today by Senator John Thune (R-S.D.).
