I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 303 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 18, 2009 

Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Financial As3 sistance Management Improvement Act of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION. 

5 Section 11 of the Federal Financial Assistance Man6 agement Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) 

7 is amended— 

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

9 SUNSET’’; and 

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

11 8 years after such date of enactment’’. 

12 SEC. 3. WEBSITE RELATING TO FEDERAL GRANTS. 

13 Section 6 of the Federal Financial Assistance Man14 agement Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) 

15 is amended— 

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

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

18 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol19 lowing: 

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

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

22 and maintain a public website that serves as a cen23 tral point of information and access for applicants 

24 for Federal grants. 

25 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—To the maximum extent pos26 sible, the website established under this subsection 


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1 shall include, at a minimum, for each Federal 

2 grant— 

3 ‘‘(A) the grant announcement; 

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

5 the grant; 

6 ‘‘(C) the application requirements for the 

7 grant; 

8 ‘‘(D) the purposes of the grant; 

9 ‘‘(E) the Federal agency funding the 

10 grant; and 

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

12 awarding of the grant. 

13 ‘‘(3) USE BY APPLICANTS.—The website estab14 lished under this subsection shall, to the greatest ex15 tent practical, allow grant applicants to— 

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

17 grants by type, purpose, funding agency, pro18 gram source, and other relevant criteria; 

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

20 website; 

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

22 of Federal grants using the website; and 

23 ‘‘(D) provide all required certifications and 

24 assurances for a Federal grant using the 

25 website.’’; and 


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

2 striking ‘‘All actions’’ and inserting ‘‘Except for ac3 tions relating to establishing the website required 

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

5 SEC. 4. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION. 

6 The Federal Financial Assistance Management Im7 provement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended 

8 by striking section 7 and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 7. EVALUATION OF IMPLEMENTATION. 

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

11 the date of enactment of the Federal Financial Assistance 

12 Management Improvement Act of 2009, and every 2 years 

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

14 of enactment of the Federal Financial Assistance Manage15 ment Improvement Act of 2009, the Director shall submit 

16 to Congress a report regarding the implementation of this 

17 Act. 

18 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each report under sub20 section (a) shall include, for the applicable period— 

21 ‘‘(A) a list of all grants for which an appli22 cant may submit an application using the 

23 website established under section 6(e); 


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1 ‘‘(B) a list of all Federal agencies that pro2 vide Federal financial assistance to non-Federal 

3 entities; 

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

5 complied, in whole or in part, with the require6 ments of this Act; 

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

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

9 the compliance with this Act by the Federal 

10 agency; 

11 ‘‘(E) a list of all Federal agencies exempt12 ed under section 6(d); 

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

14 subparagraph (E)— 

15 ‘‘(i) an explanation of why the Fed16 eral agency was exempted; and 

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

18 the exemption of the Federal agency is still 

19 applicable; 

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

21 that have been developed that allow non-Fed22 eral entities to apply, in whole or in part, for 

23 multiple Federal financial assistance programs 

24 (including Federal financial assistance proVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:05 Mar 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S303.RFH S303

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1 grams administered by different Federal agen2 cies) through a single common application; 

3 ‘‘(H) a list of all common forms and re4 quirements that have been developed that allow 

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

6 part, on the use of funding from multiple Fed7 eral financial assistance programs (including 

8 Federal financial assistance programs adminis9 tered by different Federal agencies); 

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

11 the Director and Federal agencies to commu12 nicate and collaborate with representatives of 

13 non-Federal entities during the implementation 

14 of the requirements under this Act; 

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

16 the Director to work with Federal agencies to 

17 meet the goals of this Act, including a descrip18 tion of working groups or other structures used 

19 to coordinate Federal efforts to meet the goals 

20 of this Act; and 

21 ‘‘(K) identification and description of all 

22 systems being used to disburse Federal finan23 cial assistance to non-Federal entities. 

24 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—The second re25 port submitted under subsection (a), and each subVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:05 Mar 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S303.RFH S303

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1 sequent report submitted under subsection (a), shall 

2 include— 

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

4 the Federal Government in meeting the goals of 

5 this Act, including the amendments made by 

6 the Federal Financial Assistance Management 

7 Improvement Act of 2009, and in implementing 

8 the strategic plan submitted under section 8, 

9 including an evaluation of the progress of each 

10 Federal agency that has not received an exemp11 tion under section 6(d) towards implementing 

12 the strategic plan; and 

13 ‘‘(B) a compilation of the reports sub14 mitted under section 8(c)(3) during the applica15 ble period. 

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

17 section, the term ‘applicable period’ means— 

18 ‘‘(1) for the first report submitted under sub19 section (a), the most recent full fiscal year before 

20 the date of the report; and 

21 ‘‘(2) for the second report submitted under sub22 section (a), and each subsequent report submitted 

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

24 date on which the most recent report under subVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:05 Mar 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S303.RFH S303

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1 section (a) was submitted and ending on the date of 

2 the report.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. STRATEGIC PLAN. 

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

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

6 note) is amended— 

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

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

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

10 this Act, the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 8. STRATEGIC PLAN. 

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

13 the date of enactment of the Federal Financial Assistance 

14 Management Improvement Act of 2009, the Director shall 

15 submit to Congress a strategic plan that— 

16 ‘‘(1) identifies Federal financial assistance pro17 grams that are suitable for common applications 

18 based on the common or similar purposes of the 

19 Federal financial assistance; 

20 ‘‘(2) identifies Federal financial assistance pro21 grams that are suitable for common reporting forms 

22 or requirements based on the common or similar 

23 purposes of the Federal financial assistance; 

24 ‘‘(3) identifies common aspects of multiple Fed25 eral financial assistance programs that are suitable 


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1 for common application or reporting forms or re2 quirements; 

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

4 achieve the goals of this Act; and 

5 ‘‘(5) provides plans, timelines, and cost esti6 mates for— 

7 ‘‘(A) developing an entirely electronic, web8 based process for managing Federal financial 

9 assistance, including the ability to— 

10 ‘‘(i) apply for Federal financial assist11 ance; 

12 ‘‘(ii) track the status of applications 

13 for and payments of Federal financial as14 sistance; 

15 ‘‘(iii) report on the use of Federal fi16 nancial assistance, including how such use 

17 has been in furtherance of the objectives or 

18 purposes of the Federal financial assist19 ance; and 

20 ‘‘(iv) provide required certifications 

21 and assurances; 

22 ‘‘(B) ensuring full compliance by Federal 

23 agencies with the requirements of this Act, in24 cluding the amendments made by the Federal 


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1 Financial Assistance Management Improvement 

2 Act of 2009; 

3 ‘‘(C) creating common applications for the 

4 Federal financial assistance programs identified 

5 under paragraph (1), regardless of whether the 

6 Federal financial assistance programs are ad7 ministered by different Federal agencies; 

8 ‘‘(D) establishing common financial and 

9 performance reporting forms and requirements 

10 for the Federal financial assistance programs 

11 identified under paragraph (2), regardless of 

12 whether the Federal financial assistance pro13 grams are administered by different Federal 

14 agencies; 

15 ‘‘(E) establishing common applications and 

16 financial and performance reporting forms and 

17 requirements for aspects of the Federal finan18 cial assistance programs identified under para19 graph (3), regardless of whether the Federal fi20 nancial assistance programs are administered 

21 by different Federal agencies; 

22 ‘‘(F) developing mechanisms to ensure 

23 compatibility between Federal financial assist24 ance administration systems and State systems 


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1 to facilitate the importing and exporting of 

2 data; 

3 ‘‘(G) developing common certifications and 

4 assurances, as appropriate, for all Federal fi5 nancial assistance programs that have common 

6 or similar purposes, regardless of whether the 

7 Federal financial assistance programs are ad8 ministered by different Federal agencies; and 

9 ‘‘(H) minimizing the number of different 

10 systems used to disburse Federal financial as11 sistance. 

12 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—In developing and imple13 menting the strategic plan under subsection (a), the Direc14 tor shall consult with representatives of non-Federal enti15 ties and Federal agencies that have not received an exemp16 tion under section 6(d). 

17 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

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

19 after the date on which the Director submits the 

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

21 Federal agency that has not received an exemption 

22 under section 6(d) shall develop a plan that de23 scribes how the Federal agency will carry out the re24 sponsibilities of the Federal agency under the stra25 tegic plan, which shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(A) clear performance objectives and 

2 timelines for action by the Federal agency in 

3 furtherance of the strategic plan; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the identification of measures to im5 prove communication and collaboration with 

6 representatives of non-Federal entities on an 

7 on-going basis during the implementation of 

8 this Act. 

9 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The head of each Fed10 eral agency that has not received an exemption 

11 under section 6(d) shall consult with representatives 

12 of non-Federal entities during the development and 

13 implementation of the plan of the Federal agency 

14 developed under paragraph (1). 

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

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

17 has not received an exemption under section 6(d) de18 velops the plan under paragraph (1), and every 2 

19 years thereafter until the date that is 15 years after 

20 the date of enactment of the Federal Financial As21 sistance Management Improvement Act of 2009, the 

22 head of the Federal agency shall submit to the Di23 rector a report regarding the progress of the Federal 

24 agency in achieving the objectives of the plan of the 

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


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1 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

2 Section 5(d) of the Federal Financial Assistance Manage3 ment Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) 

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

5 Federal agency submits the first report by the Federal 

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

7 (a)(7)’’. 

Passed the Senate March 17, 2009. 

Attest: NANCY ERICKSON, 

Secretary. 


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