II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 303 

To reauthorize and improve the Federal Financial Assistance Management 

Improvement Act of 1999. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 22, 2009 

Mr. VOINOVICH (for himself, Mr. LIEBERMAN, and Mr. CARPER) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To reauthorize and improve the Federal Financial Assistance 

Management Improvement Act of 1999. 

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 ‘‘Federal Financial As5 sistance Management Improvement Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION. 

7 Section 11 of the Federal Financial Assistance Man8 agement Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) 

9 is amended— 


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1 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘AND

2 SUNSET’’; and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘and shall cease to be effective 

4 8 years after such date of enactment’’. 

5 SEC. 3. WEBSITE RELATING TO FEDERAL GRANTS. 

6 Section 6 of the Federal Financial Assistance Man7 agement Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) 

8 is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

10 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; 

11 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(e) WEBSITE RELATING TO FEDERAL GRANTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish 

15 and maintain a public website that serves as a cen16 tral point of information and access for applicants 

17 for Federal grants. 

18 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—To the maximum extent pos19 sible, the website established under this subsection 

20 shall include, at a minimum, for each Federal 

21 grant— 

22 ‘‘(A) the grant announcement; 

23 ‘‘(B) the statement of eligibility relating to 

24 the grant; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the application requirements for the 

2 grant; 

3 ‘‘(D) the purposes of the grant; 

4 ‘‘(E) the Federal agency funding the 

5 grant; and 

6 ‘‘(F) the deadlines for applying for and 

7 awarding of the grant. 

8 ‘‘(3) USE BY APPLICANTS.—The website estab9 lished under this subsection shall, to the greatest ex10 tent practical, allow grant applicants to— 

11 ‘‘(A) search the website for all Federal 

12 grants by type, purpose, funding agency, pro13 gram source, and other relevant criteria; 

14 ‘‘(B) apply for a Federal grant using the 

15 website; 

16 ‘‘(C) manage, track, and report on the use 

17 of Federal grants using the website; and 

18 ‘‘(D) provide all required certifications and 

19 assurances for a Federal grant using the 

20 website.’’; and 

21 (3) in subsection (g), as so redesignated, by 

22 striking ‘‘All actions’’ and inserting ‘‘Except for ac23 tions relating to establishing the website required 

24 under subsection (e), all actions’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION. 

2 The Federal Financial Assistance Management Im3 provement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended 

4 by striking section 7 and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 7. EVALUATION OF IMPLEMENTATION. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 9 months after 

7 the date of enactment of the Federal Financial Assistance 

8 Management Improvement Act of 2009, and every 2 years 

9 thereafter until the date that is 15 years after the date 

10 of enactment of the Federal Financial Assistance Manage11 ment Improvement Act of 2009, the Director shall submit 

12 to Congress a report regarding the implementation of this 

13 Act. 

14 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each report under sub16 section (a) shall include, for the applicable period— 

17 ‘‘(A) a list of all grants for which an appli18 cant may submit an application using the 

19 website established under section 6(e); 

20 ‘‘(B) a list of all Federal agencies that pro21 vide Federal financial assistance to non-Federal 

22 entities; 

23 ‘‘(C) a list of each Federal agency that has 

24 complied, in whole or in part, with the require25 ments of this Act; 


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1 ‘‘(D) for each Federal agency listed under 

2 subparagraph (C), a description of the extent of 

3 the compliance with this Act by the Federal 

4 agency; 

5 ‘‘(E) a list of all Federal agencies exempt6 ed under section 6(d); 

7 ‘‘(F) for each Federal agency listed under 

8 subparagraph (E)— 

9 ‘‘(i) an explanation of why the Fed10 eral agency was exempted; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) a certification that the basis for 

12 the exemption of the Federal agency is still 

13 applicable; 

14 ‘‘(G) a list of all common application forms 

15 that have been developed that allow non-Fed16 eral entities to apply, in whole or in part, for 

17 multiple Federal financial assistance programs 

18 (including Federal financial assistance pro19 grams administered by different Federal agen20 cies) through a single common application; 

21 ‘‘(H) a list of all common forms and re22 quirements that have been developed that allow 

23 non-Federal entities to report, in whole or in 

24 part, on the use of funding from multiple Fed25 eral financial assistance programs (including 


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1 Federal financial assistance programs adminis2 tered by different Federal agencies); 

3 ‘‘(I) a description of the efforts made by 

4 the Director and Federal agencies to commu5 nicate and collaborate with representatives of 

6 non-Federal entities during the implementation 

7 of the requirements under this Act; 

8 ‘‘(J) a description of the efforts made by 

9 the Director to work with Federal agencies to 

10 meet the goals of this Act, including a descrip11 tion of working groups or other structures used 

12 to coordinate Federal efforts to meet the goals 

13 of this Act; and 

14 ‘‘(K) identification and description of all 

15 systems being used to disburse Federal finan16 cial assistance to non-Federal entities. 

17 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—The second re18 port submitted under subsection (a), and each sub19 sequent report submitted under subsection (a), shall 

20 include— 

21 ‘‘(A) a discussion of the progress made by 

22 the Federal Government in meeting the goals of 

23 this Act, including the amendments made by 

24 the Federal Financial Assistance Management 

25 Improvement Act of 2009, and in implementing 


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1 the strategic plan submitted under section 8, 

2 including an evaluation of the progress of each 

3 Federal agency that has not received an exemp4 tion under section 6(d) towards implementing 

5 the strategic plan; and 

6 ‘‘(B) a compilation of the reports sub7 mitted under section 8(c)(3) during the applica8 ble period. 

9 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF APPLICABLE PERIOD.—In this 

10 section, the term ‘applicable period’ means— 

11 ‘‘(1) for the first report submitted under sub12 section (a), the most recent full fiscal year before 

13 the date of the report; and 

14 ‘‘(2) for the second report submitted under sub15 section (a), and each subsequent report submitted 

16 under subsection (a), the period beginning on the 

17 date on which the most recent report under sub18 section (a) was submitted and ending on the date of 

19 the report.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. STRATEGIC PLAN. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Financial Assistance 

22 Management Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 

23 note) is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating sections 8, 9, 10, and 11 

25 as sections 9, 10, 11, and 12, respectively; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after section 7, as amended by 

2 this Act, the following: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 8. STRATEGIC PLAN. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

5 the date of enactment of the Federal Financial Assistance 

6 Management Improvement Act of 2009, the Director shall 

7 submit to Congress a strategic plan that— 

8 ‘‘(1) identifies Federal financial assistance pro9 grams that are suitable for common applications 

10 based on the common or similar purposes of the 

11 Federal financial assistance; 

12 ‘‘(2) identifies Federal financial assistance pro13 grams that are suitable for common reporting forms 

14 or requirements based on the common or similar 

15 purposes of the Federal financial assistance; 

16 ‘‘(3) identifies common aspects of multiple Fed17 eral financial assistance programs that are suitable 

18 for common application or reporting forms or re19 quirements; 

20 ‘‘(4) identifies changes in law, if any, needed to 

21 achieve the goals of this Act; and 

22 ‘‘(5) provides plans, timelines, and cost esti23 mates for— 


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1 ‘‘(A) developing an entirely electronic, web2 based process for managing Federal financial 

3 assistance, including the ability to— 

4 ‘‘(i) apply for Federal financial assist5 ance; 

6 ‘‘(ii) track the status of applications 

7 for and payments of Federal financial as8 sistance; 

9 ‘‘(iii) report on the use of Federal fi10 nancial assistance, including how such use 

11 has been in furtherance of the objectives or 

12 purposes of the Federal financial assist13 ance; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) provide required certifications 

15 and assurances; 

16 ‘‘(B) ensuring full compliance by Federal 

17 agencies with the requirements of this Act, in18 cluding the amendments made by the Federal 

19 Financial Assistance Management Improvement 

20 Act of 2009; 

21 ‘‘(C) creating common applications for the 

22 Federal financial assistance programs identified 

23 under paragraph (1), regardless of whether the 

24 Federal financial assistance programs are ad25 ministered by different Federal agencies; 


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1 ‘‘(D) establishing common financial and 

2 performance reporting forms and requirements 

3 for the Federal financial assistance programs 

4 identified under paragraph (2), regardless of 

5 whether the Federal financial assistance pro6 grams are administered by different Federal 

7 agencies; 

8 ‘‘(E) establishing common applications and 

9 financial and performance reporting forms and 

10 requirements for aspects of the Federal finan11 cial assistance programs identified under para12 graph (3), regardless of whether the Federal fi13 nancial assistance programs are administered 

14 by different Federal agencies; 

15 ‘‘(F) developing mechanisms to ensure 

16 compatibility between Federal financial assist17 ance administration systems and State systems 

18 to facilitate the importing and exporting of 

19 data; 

20 ‘‘(G) developing common certifications and 

21 assurances, as appropriate, for all Federal fi22 nancial assistance programs that have common 

23 or similar purposes, regardless of whether the 

24 Federal financial assistance programs are ad25 ministered by different Federal agencies; and 


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1 ‘‘(H) minimizing the number of different 

2 systems used to disburse Federal financial as3 sistance. 

4 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—In developing and imple5 menting the strategic plan under subsection (a), the Direc6 tor shall consult with representatives of non-Federal enti7 ties and Federal agencies that have not received an exemp8 tion under section 6(d). 

9 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 

11 after the date on which the Director submits the 

12 strategic plan under subsection (a), the head of each 

13 Federal agency that has not received an exemption 

14 under section 6(d) shall develop a plan that de15 scribes how the Federal agency will carry out the re16 sponsibilities of the Federal agency under the stra17 tegic plan, which shall include— 

18 ‘‘(A) clear performance objectives and 

19 timelines for action by the Federal agency in 

20 furtherance of the strategic plan; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the identification of measures to im22 prove communication and collaboration with 

23 representatives of non-Federal entities on an 

24 on-going basis during the implementation of 

25 this Act. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The head of each Fed2 eral agency that has not received an exemption 

3 under section 6(d) shall consult with representatives 

4 of non-Federal entities during the development and 

5 implementation of the plan of the Federal agency 

6 developed under paragraph (1). 

7 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.—Not later than 2 years after 

8 the date on which the head of a Federal agency that 

9 has not received an exemption under section 6(d) de10 velops the plan under paragraph (1), and every 2 

11 years thereafter until the date that is 15 years after 

12 the date of enactment of the Federal Financial As13 sistance Management Improvement Act of 2009, the 

14 head of the Federal agency shall submit to the Di15 rector a report regarding the progress of the Federal 

16 agency in achieving the objectives of the plan of the 

17 Federal agency developed under paragraph (1).’’. 

18 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

19 Section 5(d) of the Federal Financial Assistance Manage20 ment Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) 

21 is amended by inserting ‘‘, until the date on which the 

22 Federal agency submits the first report by the Federal 

23 agency required under section 8(c)(3)’’ after ‘‘subsection 

24 (a)(7)’’. 

Æ 


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