1.This Act may be cited as the
Grant Accessibility and Transparency
Enhancement Act of 2010
.
2.National Commission on
Earmark Reform
(a)The President shall establish a commission
to be known as the National Commission on Earmark Reform
(in
this section referred to as the Commission.
(b)The duties of the Commission are—
(1)to study the laws and practices related to
replacing earmarks with a full grant-making process; and
(2)to develop a
proposed plan that includes objectives, priorities, policies, and long-term
plans to transition from congressional member-directed earmarks to a
grant-making process.
(c)The
Commission shall be composed of—
(1)the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget, who shall be the chairman of the
Commission; and
(2)such other members
as the President may appoint, after consultation with the majority and minority
leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
(d)Expert grant
award panelsIn carrying out
its duties, the Commission shall propose legislative or regulatory changes to
implement a grant-making application and review process modeled after the
Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, under which a panel of subject area experts (including representatives
of the Federal agency with appropriate jurisdiction) receives, reviews, and
awards grant funding on a merit-based system. At a minimum, the Commission
shall propose changes that establish rules for—
(1)the review and reporting of grant
applications and awards;
(2)hardship
exemptions from specific reporting or application requirements; and
(3)recommended
changes in law to support the implementation of expert grant award
panels.
(e)Consolidation
and streamlining of grants management structureIn carrying out its duties, the Commission
shall propose legislative or regulatory changes to implement a specific
governance structure for all grant functions, including grants management,
within the Federal Government. At a minimum, the Commission shall propose
changes for ensuring that the activities at Grants.gov and the policy
recommendations of the Grants Policy Committee (of the Chief Financial Officers
Council) are connected, by proposing the establishment of an Office of Grant
Making within the Office of Management and Budget to cover all grants activity
of the Federal Government, including the management of Grants.gov. The
Commission shall include, at a minimum, in its recommendations regarding the
Office of Grant Making, the following:
(1)The Office should have an advisory
committee that includes representation from elected local, State, Federal and
tribal governments, institutions of higher education, vendors, and
non-profits.
(2)The meetings of
the advisory committee should be conducted in an open and transparent
way.
(3)The Office should
review all grant programs, including the implementation of the expert grant
award panels, and ensure the consistency of audits of grant programs.
(f)Involvement of
stakeholdersIn carrying out its duties, the Commission shall
propose legislative or regulatory changes to involve non-Federal participants
in the grant-making process, including involvement through—
(1)consultation with representatives of
elected local, State, and tribal governments, institutions of higher education,
vendors, non-profits, and other non-Federal participants as early as possible
to get their input on any effort by the Federal Government to change or improve
proposed grant products, including new forms and formats, and or to change or
improve the tracking and reporting of Federal fund data; and
(2)participation and
collaboration in the development of a training and certification program for
grants management professionals.
(g)In carrying out its duties, the Commission
shall—
(1)operate a publicly
accessible Web site and make available information about the Commission,
including its membership and the report required under subsection (h);
(2)hold 8 public
hearings before publication of the report required under subsection (h);
and
(3)provide for a
period of 45 days immediately before publication of the report required under
subsection (h) for submission of comments and recommendations from private and
public groups and individuals.
(h)Not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission
shall—
(1)submit to Congress
a report containing the plan developed under subsection (b) and its findings
and recommendations; and
(2)publish the report
on the Commission’s publicly accessible Web site.
(i)There
is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 for the Commission to carry out
this section.
3.
(a)Not
later than 30 days after the publication of the Commission report under section
2(h), the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall establish an
office within the Office of Management and Budget to be known as the
Office of Grant Making
(in this section referred to as the
Office).
(b)The
Office shall be overseen by a Director, who shall be designated from among
Federal officers and employees by the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget.
(c)
(1)The Office and Director shall—
(A)in consultation
with agency heads, representatives of local, State and Federal Government, and
other non-Federal entities, direct and coordinate the development of the expert
grant award panels (referred to in section 2) and the specific recommendations
of the National Commission on Earmark Reform; and
(B)be responsible for
maintaining Grants.gov, in accordance with section 5.
(2)Additional
responsibilitiesThe Director shall also support Federal agencies
in establishing—
(A)a common grant
application and reporting system; and
(B)an interagency
process for addressing the following:
(i)Ways
to streamline and simplify Federal grant administrative procedures and
reporting requirements for non-Federal entities.
(ii)Improved
interagency and intergovernmental coordination of information collection and
sharing of data pertaining to Federal grants.
(iii)Improvements in
the timeliness, completeness, and quality of information received by Federal
agencies from recipients of Federal grants.
(d)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000
for fiscal years 2011 through 2013 for purposes of establishing and operating
the Office.
4.Streamlining of
role of Federal agencies in grant making process
(a)Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, each Federal agency shall develop and implement a plan that—
(1)streamlines and
simplifies the application, administrative, and reporting procedures for
Federal grants administered by the agency;
(2)demonstrates a
process to actively participate in the expert grants awards panels referred to
in section 2;
(3)demonstrates
appropriate agency use, or plans for use, of a common grant application and
reporting system;
(4)designates a lead
agency official for carrying out the responsibilities of the agency under this
Act;
(5)allows grant
applicants to electronically apply for, and report on the use of funds from,
the Federal grants administered by the agency;
(6)ensures recipients
of Federal grants provide timely, complete, and high-quality information in
response to Federal reporting requirements; and
(7)in cooperation
with recipients of Federal grants, establishes specific annual goals and
objectives to further the purposes of this Act and measures annual performance
in achieving those goals and objectives.
(b)If
a Federal agency is unable to comply with subsection (a), the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget may extend for up to 30 days the period for the
agency to develop and implement a plan.
(c)Comment and
consultation on agency plans
(1)Each
agency shall publish the plan developed under this section in the Federal
Register and receive public comment on the plan through the Federal Register
and other means (including electronic means). To the maximum extent
practicable, each Federal agency shall hold public forums on the plan.
(2)The
lead official designated by each Agency shall consult with representatives of
State, local, and tribal governments, and other non-Federal entities, during
development and implementation of the plan.
(d)Each Federal agency shall submit the plan developed under
this section to the Director of the Office of Grant Making and Congress and
report annually thereafter on the implementation of the plan and performance of
the agency in meeting the requirements for the plan specified in subsection
(a).
5.Expansion of the
use and functionality of Grants.gov
(a)Transfer to
Office of Grant MakingThe
Director of the Office of Grant Making shall be responsible for maintaining
Grants.gov.
(b)Requirement To
post all grantsAll Federal grants, both formula and
discretionary, from all grant-making agencies shall be posted on
Grants.gov.
(c)Duplicative hard
copy applications not requiredGrant applications in hard copy
that are duplicative of applications submitted electronically shall not be
required from grant applicants.
(d)Expansion of
functionalityThe Director of the Office of Grant Making shall
ensure that Grants.gov is able to handle the following functions:
(1)Finding
grants.
(2)Applying for
grants.
(3)Submitting and
receiving grant applications.
(4)Sending grant
award notifications and other documents.
(5)Submitting and
receiving post-grant-award management reports.
(6)Closeout tools
related to grants.
(7)Grant award
tracking.
(8)Training and
technical assistance, as described in subsection (f).
(e)Avoidance of
duplication with USASpending.govThe Director of the Office of
Grant Making shall ensure that duplication of effort and dual systems related
to online Federal grant activity are no longer in effect by merging
USASpending.gov into Grants.gov. Other Federal agencies shall cooperate to the
extent necessary to assist the Director in carrying out this subsection.
(f)Training and
other technical assistanceThe Director shall ensure that Grants.gov
includes technical assistance information and resources, including—
(1)online or recorded
training sessions conducted by other Federal agencies;
(2)online or recorded
training sessions on how to use Grants.gov; and
(3)such other
technical assistance as the Director considers appropriate.
6.Ending congressional
earmarks, limited tax benefits, and limited tariff benefits
(a)Section 312 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
(g)Prohibition on
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, and limited tariff
benefits(1)It shall not be in order in the House of
Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill or joint resolution, or
amendment thereto or conference report thereon, if it or any accompanying
report contains any congressional earmark, limited tax benefit, or limited
tariff benefit.
(2)As used in this subsection, the terms
congressional earmark, limited tax benefit, and
limited tariff benefit have the meanings given to such terms in
clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives.
.
(b)Super majority
in the SenateSubsections
(c)(1) and (d)(2) of section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 are
each amended by inserting 312(g),
after
310(d)(2),
.
(c)The amendments made by
subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act.