I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5934 

To improve the effectiveness and performance of certain Federal financial 

assistance programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 12, 2023 

Ms. PEREZ (for herself and Ms. FOXX) introduced the following bill 

OCTOBER 25, 2023 

Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 

A BILL 

To improve the effectiveness and performance of certain Federal financial assistance programs, 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 ‘‘Streamlining Federal 

5 Grants Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purposes of this Act are to— 


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1 (1) improve the effectiveness and performance 

2 of Federal grant and cooperative agreement pro3 grams; 

4 (2) simplify the application and reporting re5 quirements of Federal grant and cooperative agree6 ment programs; 

7 (3) improve the delivery of services to the pub8 lic, particularly services to communities and organi9 zations that historically have not received Federal 

10 grants or cooperative agreements; and 

11 (4) facilitate greater coordination among agen12 cies that award Federal grants and non-Federal en13 tities responsible for delivering services to the public. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

17 meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, 

18 United States Code. 

19 (2) AGENCY CO-CHAIR.—The term ‘‘agency co20 chair’’ means the agency designated by the Director 

21 or the Council under section 5(e)(1). 

22 (3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT23 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com24 mittees’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

2 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

3 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Ac4 countability of the House of Representatives. 

5 (4) CONSULTATION WITH NON-FEDERAL ENTI6 TIES.—The term ‘‘consultation with non-Federal en7 tities’’ means regular and ongoing engagement 

8 with— 

9 (A) recipients and potential recipients of 

10 grants or cooperative agreements and entities 

11 that represent those recipients and potential re12 cipients; and 

13 (B) particular attention to the recipients 

14 and potential recipients described in subpara15 graph (A) that have not historically received 

16 grants or cooperative agreements. 

17 (5) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘co18 operative agreement’’ has the meaning given the 

19 term in section 6302 of title 31, United States Code. 

20 (6) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

21 Grants Council established under section 5(a). 

22 (7) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

23 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg24 et. 


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1 (8) FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The 

2 term ‘‘Federal financial assistance’’ has the meaning 

3 given the term in section 7501 of title 31, United 

4 States Code. 

5 (9) GRANT.—The term ‘‘grant’’ has the mean6 ing given the term ‘‘grant agreement’’ in section 

7 6302 of title 31, United States Code. 

8 (10) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

9 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

10 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

11 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

12 (11) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

13 The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

14 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

16 (12) LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘local 

17 government’’ means any unit of government within 

18 a State, including— 

19 (A) a county; 

20 (B) a borough; 

21 (C) a municipality; 

22 (D) a city; 

23 (E) a town; 

24 (F) a township; 

25 (G) a parish; 


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1 (H) a local public authority, including any 

2 public housing agency (as defined in section 

3 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

4 (42 U.S.C. 1437(b))); 

5 (I) a special district; 

6 (J) a school district; 

7 (K) an intrastate district; 

8 (L) a council of governments, whether or 

9 not incorporated as a nonprofit corporation 

10 under State law; and 

11 (M) any other agency or instrumentality of 

12 a multi-State, regional, or intra-State or local 

13 government. 

14 (13) NON-FEDERAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘non15 Federal entity’’ means a State, local government, In16 dian Tribe, institution of higher education, or non17 profit organization. 

18 (14) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

19 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’— 

20 (A) means any corporation, trust, associa21 tion, cooperative, or other organization that— 

22 (i) is operated primarily for scientific, 

23 educational, service, charitable, or similar 

24 purposes in the public interest; 


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1 (ii) is not organized primarily for 

2 profit; 

3 (iii) uses net proceeds to maintain, 

4 improve, or expand the operations of the 

5 organization; and 

6 (iv) is not an institution of higher 

7 education; and 

8 (B) includes faith-based and community9 based organizations. 

10 (15) SENIOR AGENCY OFFICIAL FOR GRANTS.— 

11 The term ‘‘senior agency official for grants’’ means 

12 an agency official designated under section 4(a). 

13 (16) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

14 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

15 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin 

16 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Common17 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Trust 

18 Territory of the Pacific Islands, any instrumentality 

19 thereof, and any multi-State, regional, or interstate 

20 entity that has governmental functions. 

21 SEC. 4. SENIOR AGENCY OFFICIALS FOR GRANTS. 

22 (a) SENIOR AGENCY OFFICIAL FOR GRANTS.—Not 

23 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

24 the head of each agency shall— 


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1 (1) designate a senior official of the agency to 

2 be responsible for— 

3 (A) agency-wide grant and cooperative 

4 agreement policy, management, strategic plan5 ning, and implementation; and 

6 (B) the responsibilities of the agency under 

7 this Act; and 

8 (2) notify the Director of the designation under 

9 paragraph (1). 

10 (b) LIST.—The Director shall— 

11 (1) maintain a list of senior agency officials for 

12 grants; and 

13 (2) not later than 90 days after the date of en14 actment of this Act, make the list maintained under 

15 paragraph (1) available to the public on the website 

16 of the Office of Management and Budget. 

17 SEC. 5. GRANTS COUNCIL. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 80 days after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish 

20 a council to be known as the Grants Council. 

21 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Council shall be composed 

22 of— 

23 (1) the Controller of the Office of Federal Fi24 nancial Management of the Office of Management 


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1 and Budget, who shall act as the Chair of the Coun2 cil; 

3 (2) with respect to each agency that distributes 

4 grants or enters into cooperative agreements, the 

5 senior agency official for grants of the agency; and 

6 (3) other relevant agency officials, as deter7 mined necessary by the Chair. 

8 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Administrator 

9 of General Services shall provide administrative support 

10 for the Council. 

11 (d) SOLICITATION OF FEEDBACK.—The Director 

12 shall— 

13 (1) consistently and regularly solicit input and 

14 collect feedback and user experience information 

15 with respect to the application, administration, and 

16 reporting of grants and cooperative agreements, in17 cluding from non-Federal entities; and 

18 (2) incorporate the information collected under 

19 paragraph (1) into the work of the Council. 

20 (e) IMPLEMENTATION ASSISTANCE.— 

21 (1) AGENCY CO-CHAIR.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall des23 ignate an agency with representation on the 

24 Council to serve as the agency co-chair to assist 


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1 the Director in carrying out the responsibilities 

2 under this section. 

3 (B) TERM.—The term of service of the 

4 agency co-chair shall be 2 years. 

5 (C) RENEWAL.—At the discretion of the 

6 Council, an agency may serve as the agency co7 chair for not more than 2 consecutive terms. 

8 (D) SUCCESSOR.—Upon the expiration of 

9 a term of service of an agency co-chair, the 

10 members of the Council shall designate a suc11 cessor agency co-chair. 

12 (2) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUPS.—The Di13 rector may use interagency working groups to assist 

14 in carrying out the responsibilities under this sec15 tion. 

16 (f) INTERAGENCY DUTIES.—The Director, in con17 sultation with the Council, shall direct, coordinate, and as18 sist agencies in— 

19 (1) designing and implementing common data 

20 standards under chapter 64 of title 31, United 

21 States Code; 

22 (2) creating guidelines for simplified notice of 

23 funding opportunities that improve the user experi24 ence for grants and cooperative agreements; 


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1 (3) improving interagency and intergovern2 mental coordination of information collection and 

3 data sharing relating to grant and cooperative agree4 ment programs, including for the purpose of per5 formance management and program evaluation; 

6 (4) improving the timeliness, completeness, and 

7 quality of information received by agencies from re8 cipients of grants and cooperative agreements; 

9 (5) improving the performance of grants and 

10 cooperative agreements; 

11 (6) ensuring the consistent application and in12 terpretation of Governmentwide Federal financial as13 sistance policy, oversight, and management; 

14 (7) supporting the development of the Federal 

15 financial assistance workforce; 

16 (8) establishing policies and guidelines to pro17 hibit conflicts of interest by officials involved in de18 termining grant awards and grant recipients; and 

19 (9) identifying and improving other procedures 

20 and policies relating to the application, administra21 tion, and reporting of grants and cooperative agree22 ments, as identified by the Council. 

23 (g) REPORT ON IMPROVEMENTS.—Not later than 1 

24 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 

25 2 years thereafter until the date that is 15 years after 


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1 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director, in con2 sultation with the Council, shall submit to the appropriate 

3 congressional committees a report relating to the imple4 mentation of this Act. 

5 (h) REPORT ON RECOMMENDED CHANGES IN LAW

6 AND REGULATIONS.—Not later than 4 years after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Director, in consultation 

8 with the Council, shall submit to the appropriate congres9 sional committees a report containing recommendations 

10 for changes in law and regulations to improve the effec11 tiveness, performance, and coordination of grant and coop12 erative agreement programs. 

13 SEC. 6. AGENCY GRANT IMPROVEMENT PLANS. 

14 (a) AGENCY GUIDANCE.—Not later than 270 days 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director, in 

16 consultation with the Council, shall issue guidance for the 

17 development of agency plans to— 

18 (1) streamline and simplify the application, ad19 ministrative, and reporting procedures for each 

20 grant and cooperative agreement program adminis21 tered by the agency; 

22 (2) simplify and improve user experience with 

23 respect to notices of funding opportunity, including 

24 by implementing— 

25 (A) the use of plain language; 


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1 (B) the listing of the availability of, and 

2 contact information for, training and assistance 

3 relating to applying for, administering, and re4 porting on grants and cooperative agreements; 

5 and 

6 (C) the inclusion of a summary of the 

7 funding opportunity of not more than 500 

8 words; 

9 (3) demonstrate active participation by the 

10 agency in the Council; 

11 (4) demonstrate appropriate coordination with 

12 the Grants Quality Service Management Office, or 

13 any successor organization, with respect to the adop14 tion by the agency, or plans for adoption by the 

15 agency, of grant management solutions or services 

16 that meet usability and modernization standards es17 tablished by the Director; 

18 (5) ensure potential applicants for grant and 

19 cooperative agreement programs have opportunities 

20 to receive training and assistance; 

21 (6) improve the abilities of recipients of grants 

22 and cooperative agreements to provide timely, com23 plete, and high-quality information in response to 

24 Federal reporting requirements; 


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1 (7) ensure that individuals with limited English 

2 proficiency can meaningfully access information re3 lating to grants and cooperative agreements con4 sistent with, and without unduly burdening, the mis5 sion of the agency; 

6 (8) improve the abilities of recipients of grants 

7 and cooperative agreements to provide meaningful 

8 access to applicants and beneficiaries of the grants 

9 and cooperative agreements who are individuals with 

10 limited English proficiency; and 

11 (9) establish specific annual goals and objec12 tives to further the purposes of this Act and meas13 ure annual performance in achieving those goals and 

14 objectives. 

15 (b) REVIEW OF PLANS AND REPORTS.—Upon re16 quest by the Director, the head of each agency shall sub17 mit to the Director information and reporting relating to 

18 the implementation of this Act by the agency. 

19 (c) EXEMPTIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director may exempt an 

21 agency, a component of an agency, or a particular 

22 grant or cooperative agreement program of an agen23 cy from the requirements of this Act if the Director 

24 determines that the agency does not administer a 


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1 significant number of grant and cooperative agree2 ment programs. 

3 (2) LIST OF EXEMPTED AGENCIES.—The Direc4 tor shall— 

5 (A) maintain a list of agencies, components 

6 of agencies, and grant and cooperative agree7 ment programs exempted under paragraph (1); 

8 and 

9 (B) make the list maintained under sub10 paragraph (A) available to the public on the 

11 website of the Office of Management and Budg12 et. 

13 (d) AGENCY PLANS.—Subject to subsection (e), not 

14 later than the earlier of 1 year after the date on which 

15 the Director issues guidance under subsection (a) and 635 

16 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the head of 

17 each agency shall develop, implement, and submit to the 

18 Director and the appropriate congressional committees a 

19 plan in response to the guidance. 

20 (e) EXTENSION.—If the head of an agency is unable 

21 to comply with the deadline established under subsection 

22 (d) to develop and implement a plan, the Director may 

23 extend the period during which the agency may develop 

24 and implement the plan by not more than 1 year. 


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1 (f) COMMENT AND CONSULTATION ON AGENCY

2 PLANS.— 

3 (1) COMMENT.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agen5 cy shall publish the plan developed in accord6 ance with the guidance issued under subsection 

7 (a) in the Federal Register. 

8 (B) PUBLIC COMMENT.—With respect to a 

9 plan published in the Federal Register by the 

10 head of an agency in accordance with subpara11 graph (A)— 

12 (i) the head of the agency shall review 

13 public comments on the plan submitted 

14 through the Federal Register and by other 

15 means; and 

16 (ii) to the maximum extent prac17 ticable, the head of the agency shall hold 

18 a public forum on the plan. 

19 (2) CONSULTATION.—The senior agency official 

20 for grants of each agency shall participate in con21 sultation with non-Federal entities during the devel22 opment and implementation of the plan developed in 

23 accordance with the guidance issued under sub24 section (a). 

25 (g) ANNUAL REPORT.— 


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

2 the date of the submission of the plan of an agency 

3 under subsection (d), and annually thereafter, the 

4 senior agency official for grants of the agency or the 

5 head of the agency, as applicable, shall submit to the 

6 Director and the appropriate congressional commit7 tees a report on— 

8 (A) the implementation of the plan; and 

9 (B) the performance of the agency in 

10 meeting the goals and objectives described in 

11 subsection (a)(9). 

12 (2) INCLUSION IN OTHER REPORTS.—Effective 

13 on the date on which the head of an agency submits 

14 a plan under subsection (d), the head of the agency 

15 shall update and include the goals and objectives de16 scribed in subsection (a)(9) in each performance 

17 plan of the agency required under section 1115 of 

18 title 31, United States Code. 

19 SEC. 7. GRANTS.GOV. 

20 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act, the Director, in coordination 

22 with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall 

23 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re24 port that— 


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1 (1) contains findings from a study on the acces2 sibility and user experience of Grants.gov, or any 

3 successor website; and 

4 (2) provides recommendations based on the 

5 findings described in paragraph (1) to improve the 

6 access to the function of Grants.gov, or any suc7 cessor website. 

8 (b) IMPROVEMENTS.—Not later than 3 years after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director, in coordi10 nation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

11 shall implement the recommendations described in sub12 section (a)(2). 

13 SEC. 8. ANALYSIS OF ACCESS TO FEDERAL GRANTS. 

14 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

15 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

16 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

17 a report that— 

18 (1) identifies challenges experienced by non19 Federal entities, including by faith-based and com20 munity-based organizations, rural communities, and 

21 small communities, in applying for, accessing, ad22 ministering, and reporting on grants and cooperative 

23 agreements; 


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1 (2) identifies the reasons that the entities de2 scribed in paragraph (1) elect not to participate in 

3 grants and cooperative agreements; 

4 (3) includes options to improve access to grants 

5 and cooperative agreements for the entities described 

6 in paragraph (1); 

7 (4) analyzes the extent to which agencies that 

8 award grants collect information on the number and 

9 characteristics, including the geographic distribution, 

10 of applicants for competitive grants and cooperative 

11 agreements; and 

12 (5) if the information described in paragraph 

13 (4) is available, analyzes the information. 

14 SEC. 9. EVALUATION. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

17 of the United States, in consultation with non-Federal en18 tities, shall submit to the appropriate congressional com19 mittees an evaluation of the effectiveness of this Act. 

20 (b) CONTENTS.—The evaluation under subsection (a) 

21 shall— 

22 (1) assess the implementation of this Act and 

23 the extent to which the implementation meets the 

24 purposes of this Act; 


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1 (2) make specific recommendations to further 

2 the implementation of this Act; 

3 (3) evaluate the actual performance of each 

4 agency in achieving the goals and objectives stated 

5 in the plan of the agency developed in accordance 

6 with the guidance issued under section 6(a); and 

7 (4) assess the level of coordination among the 

8 Director and non-Federal entities in implementing 

9 this Act. 

Æ 


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