I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3921
To improve the effectiveness and performance of Federal financial assistance
programs, simplify Federal financial assistance application and reporting
requirements, and improve the delivery of services to the public.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 20, 1998
Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Mr. HOYER, Mr. HORN, Mr. MORAN of Virginia,
Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr.
SHAYS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. TALENT, Mr. SANFORD, Ms. DELAURO,
Mr. SUNUNU, Ms. KILPATRICK, and Mr. WEYGAND) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform
and Oversight
A BILL
To improve the effectiveness and performance of Federal
financial assistance programs, simplify Federal financial
assistance application and reporting requirements, and
improve the delivery of services to the public.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Financial As-
sistance Management Improvement Act of 1998’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) there are over 600 different Federal finan-
cial assistance programs to implement domestic pol-
icy;
(2) while the assistance described in paragraph
(1) has been directed at critical problems, some Fed-
eral administrative requirements may be duplicative,
burdensome or conflicting, thus impeding cost-effec-
tive delivery of services at the local level;
(3) State, local, and tribal governments and pri-
vate, nonprofit organizations are dealing with in-
creasingly complex problems that require the deliv-
ery and coordination of many kinds of services; and
(4) streamlining and simplification of Federal
financial assistance administrative procedures and
reporting requirements will improve the delivery of
services to the public.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are to—
(1) improve the effectiveness and performance
of Federal financial assistance programs;
(2) simplify Federal financial assistance appli-
cation and reporting requirements;
(3) improve the delivery of services to the pub-
lic; and
(4) facilitate greater coordination among those
responsible for delivering such services.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) COMMON RULE.—The term ‘‘common rule’’
means a government-wide uniform rule for any gen-
erally applicable requirement established to achieve
national policy objectives that applies to multiple
Federal financial assistance programs across Federal
agencies.
(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means
the Director of the Office of Management and Budg-
et.
(3) FEDERAL
AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal
agency’’ means any agency as defined under section
551(1) of title 5, United States Code.
(4) FEDERAL
FINANCIAL
ASSISTANCE
PRO-
GRAM.—The term ‘‘Federal financial assistance pro-
gram’’ means a domestic assistance program (as de-
fined under section 6101(4) of title 31, United
States Code) under which financial assistance is
available, directly or indirectly, to a State, local, or
tribal government or a qualified organization to
carry out activities consistent with national policy
goals.
(5) LOCAL
GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘local
government’’ means—
(A) a political subdivision of a State that
is a unit of general local government (as de-
fined under section 6501(10) of title 31, United
States Code);
(B) any combination of political subdivi-
sions described in subparagraph (A); or
(C) a local educational agency as defined
under section 14101(18) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
8801(18)).
(6) 
QUALIFIED
ORGANIZATION.—The 
term
‘‘qualified organization’’ means a private, nonprofit
organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that is exempt from
taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Reve-
nue Code of 1986.
(7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,
American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.
(8) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘tribal
government’’ means the governing entity of an In-
dian tribe, as that term is defined in the Indian Self
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25
U.S.C. 450b).
SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in consultation with
agency heads, shall direct, coordinate, and assist Federal
agencies in establishing—
(1) a uniform application, or set of uniform ap-
plications, to be used by an applicant to apply for
assistance from multiple Federal financial assistance
programs that serve similar purposes and are ad-
ministered by different Federal agencies;
(2) ways to streamline and simplify Federal fi-
nancial assistance administrative procedures and re-
porting requirements for grantees;
(3) a uniform system wherein an applicant may
apply for, manage, and report on the use of, funding
from multiple Federal financial assistance programs
across different Federal agencies;
(4) a process for applicants to electronically
apply for, and report on the use of, funds from Fed-
eral financial assistance programs;
(5) use of common rules for multiple Federal fi-
nancial assistance programs across different Federal
agencies;
(6) improved interagency and intergovernmental
coordination of information collection and sharing of
data pertaining to Federal financial assistance pro-
grams, including the development of a release form
to be used by grantees to facilitate the sharing of in-
formation across multiple Federal financial assist-
ance programs;
(7) a process to strengthen the information re-
sources management capacity of State, local, and
tribal governments and qualified organizations per-
taining to the administration of Federal financial as-
sistance programs; and
(8) specific annual goals and objectives to fur-
ther the purposes of this Act.
(b) ACTIONS CONSISTENT WITH STATUTORY RE-
QUIREMENTS.—The actions taken by the Director under
subsection (a) shall be consistent with statutory require-
ments relating to any applicable Federal financial assist-
ance program.
(c) LEAD AGENCY AND WORKING GROUPS.—The Di-
rector may designate a lead agency to assist the Director
in carrying out the responsibilities under this section. The
Director may use interagency working groups to assist in
carrying out such responsibilities.
(d) REVIEW OF PLANS AND REPORTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall—
(A) review agency plans and reports devel-
oped under section 6 for adequacy;
(B) monitor the annual performance of
each agency toward achieving the goals and ob-
jectives stated in the agency plan; and
(C) ensure that each agency plan does not
diminish standards to measure performance and
accountability of financial assistance programs.
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall re-
port to Congress on implementation of this section.
Such a report may be included as part of any of the
general management reports required under law.
(e) EXEMPTIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director may exempt
any Federal agency from the requirements of this
Act if the Director determines that the agency does
not have a significant number of Federal financial
assistance programs.
(2) AGENCIES EXEMPTED.—Not later than No-
vember 1 of each fiscal year, the Director shall sub-
mit to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of
the Senate and the Committee on Government Re-
form and Oversight of the House of Representa-
tives—
(A) a list of each agency exempted under
this subsection in the preceding fiscal year; and
(B) an explanation for each such exemp-
tion.
(f) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 120 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue
guidance to Federal agencies on implementation of the re-
quirements of this Act. Such guidance shall include a
statement on the common rules that the Director intends
to review and standardize under this Act.
SEC. 6. DUTIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after
the date of enactment of this Act, each Federal agency
shall develop and implement a plan that—
(1) streamlines and simplifies the application,
administrative, and reporting procedures for each fi-
nancial assistance program administered by the
agency;
(2) demonstrates active participation in the
interagency process required the applicable provi-
sions of section 5(a);
(3) demonstrates agency use, or plans for use,
of the uniform application (or set of applications)
and system developed under section 5(a) (1) and
(3);
(4) designates a lead agency official for carry-
ing out the responsibilities of the agency under this
Act;
(5) allows applicants to electronically apply for,
and report on the use of, funds from the Federal fi-
nancial assistance program administered by the
agency;
(6) strengthens the information resources man-
agement capacity of State, local and tribal govern-
ments and qualified organizations pertaining to the
administration of the financial assistance program
administered by the agency; and
(7) in cooperation with State, local, and tribal
governments and qualified organizations, establishes
specific annual goals and objectives to further the
purposes of this Act and measure annual perform-
ance in achieving those goals and objectives.
(b) PLAN CONSISTENT WITH STATUTORY REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Each plan developed and implemented under
this section shall be consistent with statutory require-
ments relating to any applicable Federal financial assist-
ance program.
(c) COMMENT
AND CONSULTATION
ON AGENCY
PLANS.—
(1) COMMENT.—Each Federal agency shall
publish the plan developed under subsection (a) in
the Federal Register and shall receive public com-
ment on the plan through the Federal Register and
other means (including electronic means). To the
maximum extent practicable, each Federal agency
shall hold public hearings or related public forums
on the plan.
(2) CONSULTATION.—The lead official des-
ignated under subsection (a)(4) shall consult regu-
larly with representatives of State, local and tribal
governments and qualified organizations during de-
velopment of the plan. Consultation with representa-
tives of State, local, and tribal governments shall be
in accordance with section 204 of the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1534).
(d) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—Each Federal agency
shall submit the plan developed under subsection (a) to
the Director and Congress and report annually thereafter
on the implementation of the plan and performance of the
agency in meeting the goals and objectives specified under
subsection (a)(7). Such a report may be included as part
of any of the general management reports required under
law.
SEC. 7. EVALUATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director (or the lead agency
designated under section 5(c)) shall contract with the Na-
tional Academy of Public Administration to evaluate the
effectiveness of this Act. Not later than 4 years after the
date of enactment of this Act the evaluation shall be sub-
mitted to the lead agency, the Director, and Congress.
(b) CONTENTS.—The evaluation under subsection (a)
shall—
(1) assess the effectiveness of this Act in meet-
ing the purposes of this Act and make specific rec-
ommendations to further the implementation of this
Act;
(2) evaluate actual performance of each agency
in achieving the goals and objectives stated in agen-
cy plans; and
(3) assess the level of coordination and coopera-
tion among the Director, Federal agencies, State,
local, and tribal governments, and qualified organi-
zations in implementing this Act.
SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE AND SUNSET.
This Act shall take effect on the date of enactment
of this Act and shall cease to be effective on and after
5 years after such date of enactment.
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