I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5536 

To require transparency in notices of funding opportunity, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 

Mr. FRY (for himself, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. FINSTAD, Ms. 

HAGEMAN, Mr. DONALDS, Mrs. HOUCHIN, Mr. WOMACK, Mr. WILLIAMS

of Texas, and Mr. TIMMONS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 

A BILL 

To require transparency in notices of funding opportunity, 

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 ‘‘Grant Transparency 

5 Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NOTICES OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TRANS7 PARENCY. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’— 


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1 (A) has the meaning given the term ‘‘Exec2 utive agency’’ in section 105 of title 5, United 

3 States Code; and 

4 (B) does not include the Government Ac5 countability Office. 

6 (2) COMPETITIVE GRANT.—The term ‘‘competi7 tive grant’’ means a discretionary award (as defined 

8 in section 200.1 of title 2, Code of Federal Regula9 tions) awarded by an agency— 

10 (A) through a grant agreement or coopera11 tive agreement under which the agency makes 

12 payment in cash or in kind to a recipient to 

13 carry out a public purpose authorized by law; 

14 and 

15 (B) the recipient of which is selected from 

16 a pool of applicants through the use of merit17 based selection procedures for the purpose of al18 locating funds authorized under a grant pro19 gram of the agency. 

20 (3) EVALUATION OR SELECTION CRITERIA.— 

21 The term ‘‘evaluation or selection criteria’’ means 

22 standards or principles for judging, evaluating, or 

23 selecting an application for a competitive grant. 

24 (4) NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY.—The 

25 term ‘‘notice of funding opportunity’’ has the meanVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Sep 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5536.IH H5536

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1 ing given the term in section 200.1 of title 2, Code 

2 of Federal Regulations. 

3 (5) RATING SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘rating sys4 tem’’— 

5 (A) means a system of evaluation of com6 petitive grant applications to determine how 

7 such applications advance through the selection 

8 process; and 

9 (B) includes— 

10 (i) a merit criteria rating rubric; 

11 (ii) an evaluation of merit criteria; 

12 (iii) a methodology to evaluate and 

13 rate based on a point scale; and 

14 (iv) an evaluation to determine wheth15 er a competitive grant application meets 

16 evaluation or selection criteria. 

17 (b) TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS.—Each notice 

18 of funding opportunity issued by an agency for a competi19 tive grant shall include— 

20 (1) a description of any rating system and eval21 uation and selection criteria the agency uses to as22 sess applications for the competitive grant; 

23 (2) a statement of whether the agency uses a 

24 weighted scoring method and a description of any 

25 weighted scoring method the agency uses for the 


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1 competitive grant, including the amount by which 

2 the agency weights each criterion; and 

3 (3) any other qualitative or quantitative merit4 based approach the agency uses to evaluate an appli5 cation for the competitive grant. 

6 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—With respect to a 

7 particular competitive grant, nothing in this Act shall be 

8 construed to supersede any requirement with respect to 

9 a notice of funding opportunity for the competitive grant 

10 in a law that authorizes the competitive grant. 

11 (d) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—No additional funds 

12 are authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of car13 rying out this Act. 

14 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall take effect on 

16 the date that is 120 days after the date of enact17 ment of this Act. 

18 (2) NO RETROACTIVE EFFECT.—This Act shall 

19 not apply to a notice of funding opportunity issued 

20 before the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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