Grants Blog

Posts Tagged ‘grants management’

Do you have comments on the usefulness of the Federal Financial Report (SF-425), how it could be improved, other ways to collect the same information, or similar ideas about the collection of financial information? Well, OMB wants to hear from you.

In the July 28 Federal Register, OMB invited comments on the renewal of the SF-425. OMB is currently not planning to make any changes to the data collection form, but in the notice, it specifically said it was interested in receiving comments on:

“How the SF–425 and SF–425A are an improvement over the data collections they replaced (SF–269, SF–269A, SF–272, and SF–272A); how using a specification for a data exchange or other data model instead of structured forms could facilitate the submission and collection of the financial data identified in the SF–425 and SF–425A; and any proposals, use cases, specifications, or models for eliminating redundancies in reporting grant financial information and increasing its usefulness regardless of how the financial information is reported (form, data input, system-to-system, etc.).”

Comments are due September 26 and can be sent through www.regulations.gov. Click here to read the FR notice.

Federal agencies are asking for your help in finding ways to reduce the administrative burdens and costs associated with cost principles compliance in federally sponsored research projects. Colleges, universities, grants offices, associations, and others involved in research have until July 28 to offer their ideas.

For several years, a federal interagency task force has been looking at 2 CFR 220 (Circular A-21) with respect to its application in federally sponsored research at educational institutions. That task force has gathered preliminary information on areas that could be improved, and is now inviting the public to offer their comments on these issues. Specifically, the task force is seeking input in the following areas:

• effort reporting,
• recovery of direct costs associated with administrative and project management support for investigators,
• institutional eligibility for the Utility Cost Adjustment,
• consistency among agencies that establish governmentwide
  F&A rates,
• programs with F&A reimbursement at other than governmentwide rates,
• rationalization between agencies of regulations and reporting requirements
• audits of research institutions and awards, and
• definitions of general and research equipment

All comments must be submitted electronically to:

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfi_files/a-21/add.htm

You can read the full request for information here.

The task force plans to produce a summary of the suggestions by September, and will then begin to draft a set of recommendations that it will forward to OMB for review.

Yesterday, a House subcommittee held hearings on “Improving Oversight and Accountability in Federal Grant Programs.” Officials from OMB, GAO, federal agencies, and the private sector all testified. And while (in my opinion) there was not a lot of new information or new ideas, the fact that Congress is now paying more attention to grants management is a fairly significant development.

So here is a link to the subcommittee’s website, where you can find testimony and watch a recorded version of the hearing.

I’m curious to see what action Congress, agencies, or the administration actually take. What do you think? Will we see concrete steps toward improved effectiveness and use of single audits? Will there be changes in the preaward process? Will regulations be amended? Take a look at the testimony and let me know what you think.

It seems it is not a matter of whether, but when, the federal government will impose new reporting requirements on recipients of federal financial assistance. On the same day, President Obama issued a new executive order on the matter while a key member of Congress introduced legislation that could have a drastic impact on grants management.

Both the executive order and the legislation have the ultimate goals of increasing transparency (read increasing reporting) and reducing waste. And both are based largely on the lessons learned through the Recovery Act. So the impetus for the changes in transparency, accountability, and reporting is strong. The only questions that remain are how to reach those goals.

Obama’s initiative, which is being spearheaded by Vice President Biden, creates a new Government Accountability and Transparency Board to “provide strategic direction for enhancing the transparency of federal spending and advance efforts to detect and remediate fraud, waste, and abuse.”

Obama’s order goes to say that the board will “apply the approaches developed by the [Recovery Act Board] across government spending.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, introduced the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, or DATA Act.  His legislation would also create a permanent governmentwide accountability board, and would go further.

The DATA Act would require the new accountability board to establish common identifiers and consistent reporting standards for all federally collected data. It would also require all recipients of federal grants, contracts, and loans to report on their receipt and use of federal funds at least quarterly. Compliance would be a condition of receiving funds. And agencies could impose penalties of up to $250,000 on those that don’t report. (Does this mean OMB would need to amend the administrative requirements in Circular A-102 and 2 CFR 215?)

Finally, the legislation would repeal the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.

Information on Issa’s legislation is available here. To read the executive order, click here.

This week Congress will vote on a continuing resolution to fund the federal government for the remainder of the current fiscal year. I’ve been looking at the proposal and noticed a few things that might be of interest to grants professionals.

First, while the theme of transparency and accountability grow, Congress is planning to slash funding for electronic government initiatives by about 75 percent. This would impact sites such as USAspending.gov where the public has access to information about federal aid recipients. With only $8 million to spend on e-gov, federal officials would have to make some tough choices about which transparency sites to maintain and which ones to shut down or scale back.

The second interesting tidbit is that the funding proposal would implement an across-the-board cut for all non-defense programs, but agencies would still have discretion over the funding levels for many of their individual programs.

Finally, one of the federal government’s innovation efforts is being de-funded. The Partnership Fund for Program Integrity Innovation would be zeroed out, with only enough funding to cover the projects OMB already committed to. This initiative, originally funded $34 million, was intended to support innovative programs that promoted efficiency and cooperation among federal agencies and states, local governments , and nonprofit organizations.

So, those are my first thoughts on this massive spending package for FY 11. Anyone else have comments they would like to share?

President Obama recently issued a memo to federal agencies that, in my opinion, could have a significant impact on grants management practices and policies.

In the memo, entitled Administrative Flexibility , Obama focused on two areas: coordination and collaboration efforts lead by OMB, and agency streamlining.

Two of the directives to OMB could be especially significant for entities involved in grants management. Obama directs the office to “review and where appropriate revise guidance concerning cost principles, burden minimizations, and audits for state, local, and tribal governments” in order to eliminate unnecessary, unduly burdensome, duplicative, or low-priority recordkeeping requirements.

OMB is also directed to work with agencies that administer overlapping programs and collaborate with state, local, and tribal governments to standardize, streamline, and reduce reporting and planning requirements.

Agencies’ efforts must focus on identifying regulatory and administrative requirements that can be streamlined, reduced, or eliminated, and specifying where and how increased flexibility could be provided to produce the same or better program outcomes at lower cost.

There are no timeframes established in the memo, so we don’t know when agencies or OMB will undertake these efforts.

But I think it will be interesting to see the final results.

What do you think?

Information about Management Concepts’ annual Federal Grants Update seminar is now available. This one-day course is a great way to keep track of the latest developments in grants management and to learn about pending changes that may impact your day-to-day grants work.

This year we’ll be discussing GPRA, subaward reporting, transparency and accountability, audit guidance, presidential and congressional priorities, and more.

Classes start the first week in April and run throughout the summer in cities around the country. We can also bring the course to your location. Click here to see dates, locations, topics, and registration options.

Congress has just approved major changes to the Government Performance and Results Act, pushing for not only better performance from federal agencies and programs, but also better reporting and more transparency.

The measure calls for federal agencies to identify their top priorities, publicly report program results, and identify ineffective and duplicative federal programs.

Each federal agency would designate a Chief Operating Officer and a Performance Improvement Officer with primary responsibility for pursuing cost-savings through the improved analysis and coordination of duplicative programs. These officials would also look at how to better coordinate administrative functions common to every agency, such as purchasing. However, the bill gives no specific direction to agencies on how to conduct any of these assessments.

Agency and governmentwide information relating to performance is to be posted to a new public website on a quarterly basis.

President Obama is expected to sign the legislation, the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010.

 The Office of Management and Budget is planning to distribute $37.5 million to help federal agencies support innovative projects that improve federal assistance programs delivered through state and local governments.

 The Partnership Fund for Program Integrity Innovation will support initiatives that improve payment accuracy, improve administrative efficiency, improve service delivery, and remove access barriers for eligible beneficiaries.

 The first step is for entities to submit pilot ideas. OMB will evaluate those ideas, solicit more detailed project and evaluation plans from the most promising suggestions, and then transfer funds to federal agencies to begin selected projects. The federal agencies will choose the state, local, or other relevant agencies for participation and possible funding.

Detailed information about the initiative is spelled out in a new OMB memo, including directions on how federal agencies can submit ideas. The memo, 11-01 is available here. Other stakeholders are invited to submit ideas via the website http://www.partnersforsolutions.gov. The deadline is 30 October 2010.