I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1480
To increase the overall economy and efficiency of Government operations
and enable more efficient use of Federal funding, by coordinating Federal
financial assistance programs and promoting local flexibility.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 29, 1997
Mr. HOYER (for himself, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. FATTAH, and Mr. WEYGAND)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Government Reform and Oversight
A BILL
To increase the overall economy and efficiency of Government
operations and enable more efficient use of Federal fund-
ing, by coordinating Federal financial assistance pro-
grams and promoting local flexibility.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Family Services Im-
provement Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) historically, Federal programs have ad-
dressed the Nation’s problems by providing categor-
ical financial assistance with detailed requirements
relating to the use of funds;
(2) while the assistance described in paragraph
(1) has been directed at critical problems, some pro-
gram requirements may inadvertently impede the ef-
fective delivery of services, and the Federal govern-
ment should exercise leadership in eliminating these
impediments;
(3) the Nation’s State, local, and tribal govern-
ments and private, nonprofit organizations are deal-
ing with increasingly complex problems that require
the coordinated delivery of many kinds of services;
(4) the Nation’s communities are diverse, and
different needs are present in different communities;
and
(5) it is more important than ever for the Fed-
eral Government to—
(A) review, coordinate, and rationalize
rules, regulations and policies governing the
range of Federal financial assistance programs;
(B) reduce the barriers between programs
that impede State, local, and tribal govern-
under one or more eligible Federal financial assist-
ance programs;
(3) LOCAL
GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘local
government’’ means—
(A) a subdivision of a State that is a unit
of general local government (as defined under
section 6501 of title 31, United States Code);
(B) any combination of political subdivi-
sions described in subparagraph (A) recognized
by the Council; and
(C) local education agencies (as defined
under section 8801(18) of title 20, United
States Code);
(4) 
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;
(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,
American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands;
(6) 
QUALIFIED
CONSORTIUM.—The 
term
‘‘qualified consortium’’ means a group that—
(A) is composed of any combination of
qualified organizations, State agencies, or local
agencies that receive federally appropriated
funds, and
(B) includes representatives from not less
than three organizations providing services in
not less than three of the following areas:
(i) Education.
(ii) Head Start.
(iii) Child care.
(iv) Family support and preservation.
(v) Maternal and child health.
(vi) Job training.
(vii) Housing.
(viii) Nutrition.
(ix) Juvenile justice.
(x) Drug abuse prevention and treat-
ment; and
(7) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘tribal
government’’ means the governing entity of an In-
dian tribe as defined in the Federally Recognized In-
dian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a), and
any amendments to such Act.
SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL COORDINATION
COUNCIL.
(a) DESIGNATION AND MEMBERSHIP.—The Presi-
dent shall designate a Federal Coordination Council, in
this Act referred to as ‘‘Council’’, composed of the follow-
ing:
(1) The Attorney General.
(2) The Secretary of Agriculture.
(3) The Secretary of Labor.
(4) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices.
(5) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel-
opment.
(6) The Secretary of Education.
(7) The Director of National Drug Control Pol-
icy.
(8) The Director of the Office of Management
and Budget.
(9) Any additional members appointed at the
discretion of the President.
(b) CHAIRPERSON.—The President shall designate a
Chair of the Council from among members of the Council.
(c) DUTIES.—The Council shall perform the following
functions:
(1) Review regulations governing eligible Fed-
eral financial assistance programs in the areas listed
in section 4(1)(A) and identify more efficient oper-
ation and coordination of such programs.
(2) Coordinate and assist Federal agencies in
eliminating, revising, and coordinating regulations,
including regulations with respect to the blending of
funds.
(3) Coordinate and assist Federal agencies in
creating an application to be used to apply for as-
sistance from eligible Federal financial assistance
programs in the areas listed in section 4(1)(A).
(4) Coordinate and assist Federal agencies in
creating a release form to be used by a client to au-
thorize or prohibit service providers, including
schools, from sharing information across eligible
Federal financial assistance programs.
(5) Coordinate and assist agencies in creating a
system wherein an organization or consortium of or-
ganizations may use one proposal to apply for fund-
ing from multiple eligible Federal financial assist-
ance programs.
(6) Evaluate current performance standards
and evaluation criteria for eligible Federal financial
assistance 
programs, 
and 
make 
specific 
rec-
ommendations to Federal agencies regarding how to
revise such standards and criteria in order to estab-
lish specific and measurable performance and out-
come measures by which program success may be
judged and future funding decisions made.
(7) Ensure that Federal grants program cri-
teria award priority funding to qualified consortia.
(8) Establish interagency teams comprised of
staff from the agencies that administer the covered
federal financial assistance programs to provide
training and technical assistance to assist program
coordination.
(9) Establish interagency teams to provide out-
come-based, cross-program evaluation of coordinated
programs.
(10) Identify not less than ten qualified consor-
tia to participate in a demonstration program to de-
termine the benefits of the following accountability
procedures:
(A) The qualified consortium shall select a
set of specific and measurable program goals.
(B) The qualified consortium shall develop
a flexibility and coordination plan to describe—
(i) how the consortium will attain
these goals;
(ii) how performance will be meas-
ured; and
(iii) how the consortium will identify
subgroups within the community, and col-
lect and maintain data to measure the im-
pact of the plan on individuals, the sub-
groups, and the community.
(d) REPORTS.—
(1) Not later than one year after the designa-
tion of the Council, the Council shall submit to the
Congress a report detailing any legislative encum-
brances preventing the Council from carrying out its
duties.
(2) Not later than three years after the des-
ignation of the Council, the Council shall submit to
the Congress a report detailing any regulations im-
plemented as a result of findings of the Council.
SEC. 6. INCENTIVES TO FORM CONSORTIA.
(a) EXEMPTION
FROM REQUIREMENTS.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, members of a quali-
fied consortium shall be exempted, without any waiver ap-
plication or approval, but subject to prior notification to
the agency administering the affected Federal assistance
programs, from meeting requirements or providing serv-
ices which are met or performed by another member of
the consortium, so long as the standards of the require-
ment or service are met by that other member of the con-
sortium.
(b) RETENTION OF CERTAIN FUNDS.—Any funds
which each individual program saves from the program co-
ordination described in subsection (a) may be retained by
the consortium in a flexible account which shall be admin-
istered in accordance with a memorandum of understand-
ing agreed to by each member of the consortium. Flexible
account funds may be used to expand, improve, or other-
wise augment services provided by the consortium, consist-
ent with the intent of Federal programs managed by con-
sortium members, including data systems development
and joint professional development with staff from other
consortium members.
(c) PERMISSION
TO SET ASIDE PERCENTAGE
OF
FUNDS.—Any agency or organization that is a member
of a consortium may at its discretion set aside a maximum
of 10 percent of its Federal funds in the flexible account
described in subsection (b).
(d) AUDIT
OF FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
PROGRAMS.—The Federal agencies with jurisdiction over
Federal financial assistance programs included in a con-
sortium may designate a cognizant agency to audit flexible
fund expenditures.