Just days after receiving criticism for defending the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to relocate two of their sub-agencies to Missouri, Senator Josh Hawley is introducing new legislation that will move 90 percent of federal agency jobs out of Washinton D.C. Hawley (R-Mo.) and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have introduced the HIRE bill, something that aims to take federal agencies out of D.C. and relocate them to less economically fortunate areas of the country.
HIRE
Today @MarshaBlackburn and I are proposing to move 90% of fed bureaucracy jobs out of DC and to economically challenged regions across the country. This will help drive investment & opportunity to workers and places that need it most https://t.co/IrI2jF5J8g
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) October 23, 2019
The “Helping Infrastructure Restore the Economy (HIRE) Act,” if passed, would move around 90 percent of positions within ten executive agencies to economically distressed states. Under this bill, different departments would be moved, along with the economic benefits associated with government jobs, from the relatively few zip codes that they have now, to zip codes across the country.
“Every year Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars fund federal agencies that are mainly located in the D.C. bubble. That’s a big part of the problem with Washington: they’re too removed from the rest of America. The Hire Act will move policymakers directly into the communities they serve, creating thousands of jobs for local communities and saving taxpayers billions of dollars along the way,” Hawley said in a statement. [1]
The States Affected
If passed the legislation aims to move the following agencies to the mentioned state:
- Department of Agriculture – Missouri
- Department of Education – Tennessee
- Department of Commerce – Pennsylvania
- Department of Energy – Kentucky
- Health and Human Services – Indiana
- Housing and Urban Development – Ohio
- Department of the Interior – New Mexico
- Department of Labor – West Virginia
- Department of Transportation – Michigan
- Veterans Affairs – South Carolina
“Moving agencies outside of Washington, D.C. both boosts local economies and lowers costs — that’s a winning combination. This legislation would enable Americans across the country to have greater access to good jobs,” said Blackburn. [2]
Research has shown that federal employees can earn up to 17 percent more than those who work in the private sector, on average. [3]
The goal of this bill is to save money in the longterm as well as causing an influx of jobs to rural areas.
Notes:
- ^Crowe, Jack. “Hawley to Introduce Bill to Move Federal Agencies out of Washington D.C. to Economically Stagnant Areas.” National Review, 23 Oct. 2019, www.nationalreview.com/news/hawley-to-introduce-bill-moving-federal-agencies-out-of-washington-d-c-to-economically-stagnant-areas. (go back ↩)
- ^“Hawley, Blackburn Propose Moving 90% Of Bureaucracy Jobs Out Of DC.” Federalist, 23 Oct. 2019, thefederalist.com/2019/10/23/hawley-blackburn-propose-moving-90-percent-of-bureaucracy-jobs-out-of-dc. (go back ↩)
- ^“Why Fed Workers Out-Earn Private Sector: Benefits | RealClearInvestigations.” 28 Nov. 2017, www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2017/05/05/federal_benefits.html. (go back ↩)
