II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3890 

To improve intergovernmental cooperation and reduce duplicative spending, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2022 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. DAINES, and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To improve intergovernmental cooperation and reduce 

duplicative spending, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Intergovern5 mental Cooperation and Reducing Duplication Act of 

6 2022’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) It remains the policy of the United States 

10 Government to rely on the private sector enterprise 


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1 system to provide services reasonably and quickly 

2 through ordinary business channels. 

3 (2) However, over the past half century, the 

4 substantial investment in unique, scalable, purpose5 ful, and well-functioning government products and 

6 services, including those reliant on the private sector 

7 for support, has grown substantially and contributed 

8 to the successful delivery of important benefits, serv9 ices, and programs to taxpayers while reducing 

10 waste, fraud, and abuse. 

11 (3) While the United States remains, as it al12 ways shall, a Federal system, when Congress makes 

13 sustained and significant investments in inherently 

14 governmental functions, Congress must seek to en15 sure that arbitrary restrictions are not in place that 

16 encourage other instances of waste, fraud, and abuse 

17 by allowing government agencies at all levels to cre18 ate bespoke, independent systems, studies, and de19 velopment projects in an independent and uncoordi20 nated manner. 

21 (4) In respecting the leadership and ingenuity 

22 of the private sector, Congress must not allow agen23 cies at various levels of government to operate in 

24 completely independent silos, especially when Fed25 eral benefits and programs are being administered 


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1 at the State, local, territorial, and Tribal levels, 

2 which, in doing so, requires far greater taxpayer re3 sources to be spent developing and maintaining sys4 tems, programs, projects, and other services that can 

5 be better delivered and managed cooperatively be6 tween jurisdictions. 

7 (5) State, local, territorial, and Tribal entities 

8 should have the option, without being coerced or re9 quired, to adopt and use important information, in10 frastructure, capabilities, and services from the Fed11 eral Government if such offerings are made to ben12 efit taxpayers and the constituents served by those 

13 offerings. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

17 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg18 et. 

19 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

20 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

21 102 of title 31, United States Code. 

22 (3) TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

23 ‘‘territorial government’’ has the meaning given the 

24 term in section 5 of PROMESA (48 U.S.C. 2104). 


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1 (4) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

2 government’’ means the recognized governing body 

3 of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, 

4 pueblo, village, community, component band, or com5 ponent reservation, individually identified (including 

6 parenthetically) in the list published most recently as 

7 of the date of enactment of this paragraph pursuant 

8 to section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian 

9 Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 

10 SEC. 4. SPECIALIZED OR TECHNICAL SERVICES. 

11 Section 6505 of title 31, United States Code, is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a)— 

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘information technology 

15 products and platforms,’’ after ‘‘documents,’’; 

16 (B) by inserting ‘‘or supporting’’ after 

17 ‘‘similar’’; and 

18 (C) by striking the second sentence; 

19 (2) in subsection (b)— 

20 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

21 by striking ‘‘State or local’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘State, local, territorial, or Tribal’’; 

23 (B) by striking paragraph (1) and insert24 ing the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) a request is made by a representative of 

2 the State, local, territorial or Tribal government; 

3 and’’; and 

4 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘State or 

5 local’’ and inserting ‘‘State, local, territorial, or 

6 Tribal’’; 

7 (3) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub8 section (f); 

9 (4) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(d) When providing services prescribed by the Presi12 dent under this section to a State, local, territorial, or 

13 Tribal government, the head of an executive agency shall 

14 take all available necessary and appropriate steps to in15 crease cooperation and reduce administrative burden be16 tween the State, local, territorial, or Tribal government 

17 requesting the service and the executive agency.’’; and 

18 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(g) In this section— 

20 ‘‘(1) the term ‘territorial government’ has the 

21 meaning given the term in section 5 of PROMESA 

22 (48 U.S.C. 2104); and 

23 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Tribal government’ means the 

24 recognized governing body of any Indian or Alaska 

25 Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, commuVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:36 Mar 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3890.IS S3890

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1 nity, component band, or component reservation, in2 dividually identified (including parenthetically) in 

3 the list published most recently as of the date of en4 actment of this paragraph pursuant to section 104 

5 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 

6 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131).’’. 

7 SEC. 5. STRATEGIC PLAN. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 150 days after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Director, in coordina10 tion with the Director of the Office of Intergovernmental 

11 Affairs, shall publish a strategic plan to improve coopera12 tion between and support greater harmonization, effective13 ness, and the reduction of burdens and costs between the 

14 Federal Government and State, local, territorial, and Trib15 al governments. 

16 (b) CONTENTS.—The plan required under subsection 

17 (a)— 

18 (1) shall include coordination with and input 

19 from State, local, territorial, and Tribal governments 

20 and other relevant stakeholders; 

21 (2) shall include, at a minimum, actions and ac22 tivities the Federal Government shall take to 

23 strengthen and improve the delivery of Federal serv24 ices, benefits, and programs administered by State 

25 and local governments, including specific actions to 


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1 increase harmonization between the Federal Govern2 ment and State, local, territorial, and Tribal govern3 ments through increased availability and use of spe4 cialized or technical services provided by executive 

5 agencies pursuant to section 6505 of title 31, United 

6 States Code, as amended by section 4 of this Act; 

7 and 

8 (3) may include additional elements, data, 

9 plans, and actions, and may be updated from time 

10 to time, as the Director and the Director of the Of11 fice of Intergovernmental Affairs determine nec12 essary. 

13 SEC. 6. OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET GUIDANCE. 

14 (a) GUIDANCE REQUIRED BY THE DIRECTOR.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

17 issue guidance implementing section 6505 of title 

18 31, United States Code, as amended by section 4 of 

19 this Act. 

20 (2) CONTENTS.—The guidance issued under 

21 paragraph (1)— 

22 (A) may not preclude any executive agency 

23 offering specialized services pursuant to section 

24 6505 of title 31, United States Code, as amend25 ed by section 4 of this Act, from utilizing emVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:36 Mar 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3890.IS S3890

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1 ployees or hiring employees to support the de2 velopment and offering of specialized or tech3 nical services identified by the executive agency 

4 under such section 6505; 

5 (B) shall set requirements for executive 

6 agencies to routinely identify, scope, and, where 

7 approved, provide specialized or technical serv8 ices to State, local, territorial, and Tribal gov9 ernments; 

10 (C) shall ensure that executive agencies are 

11 not unreasonably restricted from offering spe12 cialized or technical services to State, local, ter13 ritorial, and Tribal governments, especially 

14 when doing so would improve the efficiency, ef15 fectiveness, and successful delivery of Federal 

16 programs or benefits to United States citizens; 

17 and 

18 (D) shall include any other measures iden19 tified by the Director to implement section 

20 6505 of title 31, United States Code, as amend21 ed by section 4 of this Act. 

22 (b) RESCISSION OF CURRENT GUIDANCE BY THE DI23 RECTOR.—Upon issuance of the guidance required by sub24 section (a), the Director shall rescind Office of Manage25 ment and Budget Circular A–97, dated August 29, 1969. 


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1 SEC. 7. REPORT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, and every year thereafter, 

4 the Director, in coordination with the Director of the Of5 fice of Intergovernmental Affairs, shall submit to the 

6 Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs 

7 of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Re8 form of the House of Representatives a report on actions 

9 and activities taken by executive agencies pursuant to sec10 tion 6505 of title 31, United States Code, as amended by 

11 section 4 of this Act. 

12 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required under sub13 section (a) shall include— 

14 (1) a detailed list of the types of specialized or 

15 technical services provided by each executive agency 

16 under section 6505 of title 31, United States Code, 

17 as amended by section 4 of this Act, including the 

18 costs of each service provided to each State, local, 

19 territorial, and Tribal government; 

20 (2) measures of State, local, territorial, and 

21 Tribal government satisfaction, including an assess22 ment of any such measures, with the specialized or 

23 technical services provided by executive agencies 

24 under such section 6505, including any cost savings 

25 to taxpayers; 


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1 (3) in coordination with State, local, territorial, 

2 and Tribal governments, recommendations for the 

3 continued improvement of cooperation between the 

4 Federal Government and State, local, territorial, and 

5 Tribal governments, including legislative rec6 ommendations where appropriate, to reduce unneces7 sary duplication and costs, improve service delivery, 

8 and strengthen accountability and oversight of Fed9 eral programs, services, and benefits primarily deliv10 ered by State, local, territorial, or Tribal govern11 ments; and 

12 (4) other information, assessments, and matters 

13 that the Director and the Director of the Office of 

14 Intergovernmental Affairs may determine necessary. 

15 (c) FORMAT.—The report required under subsection 

16 (a) may be published in a machine readable format on a 

17 website chosen by the Director. 

18 SEC. 8. AUTHORITIES OF THE ADMINISTRATOR OF GEN19 ERAL SERVICES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter III of 

21 subtitle I of title 40, United States Code, is amended by 

22 adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘§ 324. Support for State, local, territorial, and Tribal 

24 governments 

25 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘local government’ and ‘State’ 

2 have the meanings given those terms in section 6501 

3 of title 31; 

4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘territorial government’ has the 

5 meaning given the term in section 5 of PROMESA 

6 (48 U.S.C. 2104); and 

7 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Tribal government’ means the 

8 recognized governing body of any Indian or Alaska 

9 Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, commu10 nity, component band, or component reservation, in11 dividually identified (including parenthetically) in 

12 the list published most recently as of the date of en13 actment of this paragraph pursuant to section 104 

14 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 

15 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 

16 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO STATE, 

17 LOCAL, TERRITORIAL, AND TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.—In 

18 addition to any authorities provided to the Administrator 

19 in this title or any other title of the United States Code, 

20 the Administrator may provide specialized or technical 

21 services described in section 6505 of title 31 on a reim22 bursable or non-reimbursable basis to a State, local, terri23 torial, or Tribal government. 

24 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—The Administrator is author25 ized to use monies deposited into or otherwise made availVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:36 Mar 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3890.IS S3890

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1 able to funds authorized under this chapter to provide the 

2 services described in subsection (b). 

3 ‘‘(d) USE OF AUTHORITY.—The authorities provided 

4 under this section shall be in addition to any other au5 thorities provided to the Administrator by law.’’. 

6 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

7 The table of sections for title 40, United States Code, is 

8 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

9 323 the following: 

‘‘324. Support for State, local, territorial and Tribal governments.’’. 

Æ 


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