[House Report 108-119]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
108th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 108-119
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INCREASING THE WAIVER REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN LOCAL MATCHING
REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANTS PROVIDED TO AMERICAN SAMOA, GUAM, THE VIRGIN
ISLANDS, OR THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES
_______
May 20, 2003.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1189]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 1189) to increase the waiver requirement for certain
local matching requirements for grants provided to American
Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment
and recommend that the bill do pass.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of H.R. 1189 is to increase the waiver for
certain local matching requirements for grants provided to
American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands, and for other purposes.
Background and Need for Legislation
Federal law currently allows federal departments or
agencies to waive the first $200,000 matching requirement for
grants to the U.S. Territories of American Samoa, Guam, the
Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands (CNMI). The waiver of a matching requirement was first
enacted in 1980 (Public Law 96-205) because accessing federal
grants was difficult for territorial governments. At the time,
the waiver was set at $100,000 and was extended only to
American Samoa and the CNMI. Later amendments in 1983 and 1984
to the underlying law increased the waived amount to $200,000
(Public Law 98-213, Sec. 6) and added Guam and the Virgin
Islands (Public Law 98-454, title VI, Sec. 601(b)).
While territorial economies have improved over the last
several years, each government continues to be challenged with
rising unemployment, decreased government revenues, and limited
new capital for diversification. H.R. 1189 will help broaden
U.S. territories' access to federal grants by raising to
$500,000 the floor for requiring matching funds from
territorial governments. Specifically, for a grant requiring
matching funds of $500,000 or less, the legislation waives the
entire amount. For a grant requiring matching funds of more
than $500,000, the legislation waives the first $500,000 of the
matching requirement.
H.R. 1189 also seeks to end the inconsistent manner in
which current law is applied by clarifying that the matching
waiver applies to all federal agencies and departments making
grants to the U.S. Territories, not just the Department of the
Interior. The Committee recognizes the authority of any federal
agency or department to consolidate any or all grants to
American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, or the CNMI (48
U.S.C. Sec. 1469(a)). However, the Committee believes that the
exercise of this authority by any federal agency or department
shall not be employed in order to reduce the number of grants
that would otherwise be subject to the matching waiver
requirement increased by this legislation.
Finally, the legislation directs the Secretary of the
Interior to complete and submit to the House Committee on
Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources the results of a study of the implementation of the
changes to the matching requirement made through the
legislation.
Committee Action
H.R. 1189, which was introduced on March 11, 2003 by
Delegate Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS), is similar to legislation
introduced by Delegate Robert Underwood (D-GU) that was
reported out of the Committee on Resources during the 107th
Congress. H.R. 1189 was referred to the Committee on Resources.
On May 7, 2003, the Full Resources Committee met to consider
the bill. The bill was ordered favorably reported to the House,
without amendment, by voice vote.
Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Article IV, section 3 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
Compliance With House Rule XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. The Committee on Resources
believes that enactment of this bill will not have a
significant effect on the federal budget.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, credit
authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax
expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office,
enacting this bill will increase direct spending by $2 million
annually.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not
apply.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, May 14, 2002.
Hon. Richard W. Pombo,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1189, a bill to
increase the waiver requirement for certain local matching
requirements for grants provided to American Samoa, Guam, the
Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands, and for other purposes.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 1189--A bill to increase the waiver requirement for certain local
matching requirements for grants provided to American Samoa,
Guam, the Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands, and for other purposes
Under current law, federal agencies are allowed to waive
the requirement for the first $200,000 of local matching funds
for federal grants to the territories of American Samoa, Guam,
the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands. H.R. 1189 would increase that waiver from
$200,000 to $500,000.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1189 would increase direct
spending by $2 million annually. The territories would be
allowed to spend less of their own funds for several mandatory
programs including the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families,
Medicaid, Food Stamp, and Child Support Enforcement (CSE)
programs. Federal contributions to the territories are capped
for most programs, so federal spending would generally remain
unchanged. However, funding for the territories is not capped
for administrative costs in the Food Stamp and CSE programs. We
estimate that federal spending would increase by about $1
million a year for each of the programs. Guam and the Virgin
Islands participate in those programs.
Under H.R. 1189, each territory's contribution would be
reduced by $300,000 in each of the Food Stamps and CSE
programs, and the federal payment to the territory would be
increased by that amount. In addition, CBO expects that the
territories would use some of the waived amounts to draw down
additional federal matching funds in those programs. In total,
assuming an enactment date of October 1, 2003, CBO estimates
that federal spending for those progams would increase by about
$2 million annually, beginning in fiscal year 2004.
CBO estimates that increasing the local matching fund
waiver would not have a significant effect on the value of
grants awarded that are subject to appropriation.
H.R. 1189 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
Enacting this legislation would benefit the affected
territories.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Matthew
Pickford, Kathleen FitzGerald, and Sheila Dacey. This estimate
was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director
for Budget Analysis.
Compliance With Public Law 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
ACT OF OCTOBER 15, 1977
(Public Law 95-134)
AN ACT To authorize certain appropriations for the territories of the
United States, to amend certain Acts relating thereto, and for other
purposes.
* * * * * * *
TITLE V
Sec. 501. In order to minimize the burden caused by existing
application and reporting procedures for certain grant-in-aid
programs available to the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa,
the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the Government
of the Northern Mariana Islands (hereafter referred to as
``Insular Areas'') it is hereby declared to be the policy of
the Congress, notwithstanding any provision of law to the
contrary, that:
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(d) Each department or agency making grant-in-aid shall, by
regulations published in the Federal Register, provide the
method by which any Insular Area may submit (i) a single
application for a consolidated grant for any fiscal year
period, but not more than one such application for a
consolidated grant shall be required by any department or
agency unless notice of such requirement is transmitted to the
appropriate committees of the United States Congress together
with a complete explanation of the necessity for requiring such
additional applications and (ii) a single report to such
department or agency with respect to each such consolidated
grant: Provided, That nothing in this paragraph shall preclude
such department or agency from providing adequate procedures
for accounting, auditing, evaluating, and reviewing any
programs or activities receiving benefits from any consolidated
grant. The administering authority of any department or agency,
in its discretion, may (i) waive any requirement for matching
funds otherwise required [by law] to be provided by the Insular
Area involved and (ii) waive the requirement that any Insular
Area submit an application or report in writing with respect to
any consolidated grant.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the case
of American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern
Mariana Islands, each department or agency of the United States
shall waive any requirement for local matching funds (including
in-kind contributions) that the insular area would otherwise be
required to provide for any grant as follows:
(1) For a grant requiring matching funds (including
in-kind contributions) of $500,000 or less, the entire
matching requirement shall be waived.
(2) For a grant requiring matching funds (including
in-kind contributions) of more than $500,000, $500,000
of the matching requirement shall be waived.
* * * * * * *
ACT OF MARCH 12, 1980
(Public Law 96-205)
AN ACT To authorize appropriations for certain insular areas of the
United States, and for other purposes.
* * * * * * *
TITLE VI--MISCELLANEOUS
Sec. 601. Title V of the Act of October 15, 1977, entitled
``An Act to authorize certain appropriations for the
territories of the United States, to amend certain Acts
relating thereto, and for other purposes'' (91 Stat. 1159)
shall be applied with respect to the Department of the Interior
by substituting ``shall'' for ``may'' in the last sentence of
subsection (d)[, and adding the following sentence at the end
of subsection (d): ``Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, in the case of American Samoa and the Nothern Mariana
Islands any department or agency shall waive any requirement
for local matching funds under $200,000 (including in-kind
contributions) required by law to be provided by American Samoa
or the Northern Mariana Islands.''].
* * * * * * *