A bill that Oklahoma Senator James Lankford and a colleague from across the aisle authored has been signed into law. The Reuse Excess Property Act will hold agencies more accountable to the public on how they reuse excess personal property. Lankford says it's pretty simple, use the things you have before buying more:

“When federal agencies just buy more, before they use what we already have, it shows a lack of commitment of saving taxpayer dollars.” The federal government is already the largest single buyer of goods and services in the world, so we need to prioritize good stewardship and effective use of property the government has already purchased.”

The passage of this bill will update existing requirements for agencies to report their excess personal property to the General Services Administration. Those reports will be made available to the public as well.