Public Buildings Act
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The Public Buildings Act of 1926, also known as the Elliot–Fernald Act, was a statute which governed the
construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...
of federal buildings throughout the United States, and authorized funding for this construction. Its primary sponsor in the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
was Representative Richard N. Elliott of
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(who served on the House Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds), and its primary sponsor in the
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was Bert M. Fernald of
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(who served on the Senate Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. Congress had provided funding for no federal buildings between 1913 and 1926. The U.S. federal government had struggled with the need to build a number of large governmental office buildings since the mid-1910s, but little had been done. In January 1924, the Public Buildings Commission (an independent agency of the executive branch) recommended that a new series of federal office buildings be built near the
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. President
Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...
asked the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
for legislation and funds in his message of December 9, 1924. The House passed a $150 million construction bill in February 1925, but the bill died in the Senate a month later. The legislation was reintroduced on January 8, 1926. The House passed the measure on February 15. The measure proved highly contentious in the Senate. After much debate, the Senate adopted the bill along with an amendment offered by Sen. William Cabell Bruce of
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which restricted construction of government buildings in Washington, D.C., to sites south of
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. The bill went into a House–Senate conference committee, so that the differences between the two bills could be reconciled. The conference committee report recommended inclusion of the "Bruce amendment." The Senate accepted the conference committee's bill on May 17, 1926, and the House did so on May 19. President Coolidge signed the bill into law on May 25, 1926."Coolidge Signs Bill for New Buildings." ''New York Times.'' May 26, 1926."$165,000,000 Public Building Measure Signed By Coolidge." ''Washington Post.'' May 26, 1926. The legislation contained three major provisions: :#An appropriation of $15 million to carry out building construction authorized in 1913, but never funded. :#An appropriation of $50 million to be used to construct federal office buildings in Washington, D.C. :#An appropriation of $100 million to be used to construct federal office buildings and post offices throughout the country. The legislation required Congressional approval of any expenditure in the nation's capital. It also restricted the executive branch from spending more than $10 million annually in the District of Columbia, and more than $5 million annually in any single state. The legislation authorized the
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to begin construction on the
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complex of buildings, purchase land for a new
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building, construct a major extension of the
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building on
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in the District of Columbia, and significantly widen B Street NW on the north side of the National Mall (eventually renamed
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). Buildings constructed outside the District of Columbia under the Act include: * The Frank M. Johnson Jr. Federal Building and United States Courthouse in
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* The E. Ross Adair Federal Building and United States Courthouse in
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* The United States Post Office and Courthouse in
Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...
* The United States Post Office and Court House in
Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
* The William R. Cotter Federal Building in
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* The United States Post Office and Courthouse in
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* The Lubbock Post Office and Federal Building in
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* The United States Post Office and Courthouse in
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Congress amended the Act in 1930 to permit private (not just federally employed) architects to bid on design contracts, and agreed to fund the construction of the Justice, Labor/ICC, National Archives, and Post Office buildings. The Act was challenged in part in '' United States v. Carmack'', wherein the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
upheld the challenged provisions, holding that the federal government had the constitutional authority to condemn land containing buildings owned by a state government."United States Supreme Court." ''New York Times.'' December 10, 1946; Dimitrakopoulos, Dionyssis G. ''Individual Rights and Liberties Under the U.S. Constitution: The Case Law of the U.S. Supreme Court.'' Boston: M. Nijhoff, 2007, p. 820.


References

{{reflist United States federal appropriations legislation 1926 in American law