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August 12, 2011

Dear Governor:

As  we approach the end of the fiscal year, we are asking States to review their fund  balances in the G5 Grants Management System for funds awarded in fiscal year  2009 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (P.L.  111-5) by the U.S. Department of Education (Department).  Under the Tydings Amendment in section 421(b)  of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1225(b)), States and  subgrantees, if applicable, have one additional fiscal year to obligate funds  after the year that the funds were made available for obligation.  These ARRA funds were made available for  obligation through the end of fiscal year 2010 and, based on the operation of the  Tydings Amendment, are available for obligation by States and subgrantees through  the end of fiscal year 2011, which ends on September 30, 2011.*

The  enclosed table shows the ARRA funds administered by the Department that our  records indicate are available to your State but have not yet been drawn down from  your State's ARRA grant accounts at the Department.  These funds must be obligated by the State  and its subgrantees no later than September 30, 2011.

We  note that the date an obligation occurs depends upon the nature of the  obligation.  The Department's regulations  in 34 CFR 76.707 determine when certain types of obligations occur.  For example, obligations for personal  services performed by an employee of the State or a subgrantee occur when the  work is performed; however, the obligation for personal services performed by a  contractor occurs on the date the State or subgrantee makes a binding written commitment  for the services to be performed.   Similarly, the obligation for procurement of real or personal property  occurs on the date the State or subgrantee makes a binding written commitment to  acquire the property; however, the obligation for rental of real or personal  property occurs when the State or subgrantee uses the property.  Section 76.707 also provides specific  information on when certain other types of obligations occur.

There  is still time for you and your State agencies to take steps to ensure that your  State and your local educational agencies, as well as other State agency  grantees or other sub-State recipients, make appropriate and timely obligations  of these remaining ARRA funds.  We hope  that your State  will continue to use all available Federal resources for the benefit of your students  and other targeted populations.  To help ensure  that these ARRA funds are obligated before the end of this fiscal year, we  encourage you to work with your Chief State School Officer and other State  officials, so that your ARRA funds can be obligated appropriately by September  30, 2011.

The  Department is committed to working with you to ensure that the available ARRA  funds are being used appropriately and effectively with minimum risk of waste,  fraud, or abuse.  The Department will be  posting the attached table to its Web site to ensure the public is aware of the  status of all awards with a September 30, 2011, obligation deadline;  to access the online data, please visit http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/spending/index.html.  The Department will also be contacting States  shortly to discuss remaining balances and to address any questions or concerns  that you may have regarding these funds.

Thank  you for your efforts on behalf of all those served by our programs.

*


| | Sincerely,       
| | -----------------
| | /s/              
| | Anthony W. Miller

Enclosure download filesMS Excel (396 K)

|cc: | Chief State School Officer                
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