[Pages S8695-S8697]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1999

Mr. JEFFORDS. I ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to the
consideration of Calendar No. 199, S. 468.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:

A bill (S. 468) 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.

There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
bill, which had been reported from the Committee on Governmental
Affairs, with amendments; as follows:

(The parts of the bill intended to be stricken are shown in boldface
brackets and the parts of the bill intended to be inserted are shown in
italic.)

S. 468

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Financial Assistance
Management Improvement Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

[The] Congress finds that--
(1) there are over 600 different Federal financial
assistance programs to implement domestic policy;
(2) while the assistance described in paragraph (1) has
been directed at critical problems, some Federal
administrative requirements may be duplicative, burdensome or
conflicting, thus impeding cost-effective delivery of
services at the local level;
(3) the Nation's State, local, and tribal governments and
private, nonprofit organizations are dealing with
increasingly complex problems which require the delivery 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 application and
reporting requirements;
(3) improve the delivery of services to the public; and
(4) facilitate greater coordination among those responsible
for delivering such services.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget.
(2) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' means any
agency as defined under section 551(1) of title 5, United
States Code.
(3) Federal financial assistance.--The term ``Federal
financial assistance'' has

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the same meaning as defined in section 7501(a)(5) of title
31, United States Code, under which Federal financial
assistance is provided, directly or indirectly, to a non-
Federal entity.
(4) Local government.--The term ``local government'' means
a political subdivision of a State that is a unit of general
local government (as defined under section 7501(a)(11) of
title 31, United States Code);.
(5) Non-federal entity.--The term ``non-Federal entity''
means a State, local government, or nonprofit organization.
(6) Nonprofit organization.--The term ``nonprofit
organization'' means any corporation, trust, association,
cooperative, or other organization that--
(A) is operated primarily for scientific, educational,
service, charitable, or similar purposes in the public
interest;
(B) is not organized primarily for profit; and
(C) uses net proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand the
operations of the organization.
(7) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands, and any instrumentality
thereof, any multi-State, regional, or interstate entity
which has governmental functions, and any Indian Tribal
Government.
(8) Tribal government.--The term ``tribal government''
means an Indian tribe, as that term is defined in section
7501(a)(9) of title 31, United States Code.
(9) Uniform administrative rule.--The term ``uniform
administrative rule'' means a Government-wide uniform rule
for any generally applicable requirement established to
achieve national policy objectives that applies to multiple
Federal financial assistance programs across Federal
agencies.

SEC. 5. DUTIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.

(a) In General.--[Not] Except as provided under subsection
(b), not later than [18] 36 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, each Federal agency shall develop and
implement, including promulgation of rules and amendments to
existing collections of information, a plan that--
(1) streamlines and simplifies the application,
administrative, and reporting procedures for Federal
financial assistance programs administered by the agency;
(2) demonstrates active participation in the interagency
process under section 6(a)(2);
(3) demonstrates appropriate agency use, or plans for use,
of the common application and reporting system developed
under section 6(a)(1);
(4) designates a lead agency official for carrying 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 financial
assistance program administered by the agency;
(6) ensures recipients of Federal financial assistance
provide timely, complete, and high quality information in
response to Federal reporting requirements; and
(7) in cooperation with recipients of Federal financial
assistance, establishes specific annual goals and objectives
to further the purposes of this Act and measure annual
performance in achieving those goals and objectives, which
may be done as part of the agency's annual planning
responsibilities under the Government Performance and Results
Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-62; 107 Stat. 285).
(b) Extension.--[If one or more agencies are unable to
comply with the requirements of subsection (a), the Director
shall report to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the
Senate and the Committee on Government Reform of the House of
Representatives the reasons for noncompliance. After
consultation with such committees, the Director may extend
the period for plan development and implementation for each
noncompliant agency for up to 12 months.] If an agency is
unable to comply with the requirements of subsection (a)(5),
the Director may extend the period for the agency to develop
and implement a plan that allows applicants to electronically
apply for, and report on the use of, funds from Federal
financial assistance programs administered by the agency to
October 31, 2003.
(c) Comment and Consultation on Agency Plans.--
(1) Comment.--Each agency shall publish the plan developed
under subsection (a) in the Federal Register and shall
receive public comment of the plan through the Federal
Register and other means (including electronic means). To the
maximum extent practicable, each Federal agency shall hold
public forums on the plan.
(2) Consultation.--The lead official designated under
subsection (a)(4) shall consult with representatives of non-
Federal entities during development and implementation of the
plan. Consultation with representatives 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
report may be included as part of any of the general
management reports required under law.

SEC. 6. DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR.

(a) In General.--The Director, in consultation with agency
heads, and representatives of non-Federal entities, shall
direct, coordinate, and assist Federal agencies in
establishing--
(1) a common application and reporting system, including--
(A) a common application or set of common applications,
wherein a non-Federal entity can apply for Federal financial
assistance from multiple Federal financial assistance
programs that serve similar purposes and are administered by
different Federal agencies;
(B) a common system, including electronic processes,
wherein a non-Federal entity can apply for, manage, and
report on the use of funding from multiple Federal financial
assistance programs that serve similar purposes and are
administered by different Federal agencies; and
(C) uniform administrative rules for Federal financial
assistance programs across different Federal agencies; and
(2) an interagency process for addressing--
(A) ways to streamline and simplify Federal financial
assistance administrative procedures and reporting
requirements for non-Federal entities;
(B) improved interagency and intergovernmental coordination
of information collection and sharing of data pertaining to
Federal financial assistance programs, including appropriate
information sharing consistent with section 552a of title 5,
United States Code; and
(C) improvements in the timeliness, completeness, and
quality of information received by Federal agencies from
recipients of Federal financial assistance.
(b) Lead Agency and Working Groups.--The Director 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.
(c) Review of Plans and Reports.--Upon the request of the
Director, agencies shall submit to the Director, for the
Director's review, information and other reporting regarding
agency implementation of this Act.
(d) Exemptions.--The Director may exempt any Federal agency
or Federal financial assistance program from the requirements
of this Act if the Director determines that the Federal
agency does not have a significant number of Federal
financial assistance programs. The Director shall maintain a
list of exempted agencies which shall be available to the
public through the Office of Management and Budget's Internet
site.
(e) Report on Recommended Changes in Law.--Not later than
18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Director shall submit to Congress a report containing
recommendations for changes in law to improve the
effectiveness, performance, and coordination of Federal
financial assistance programs.
(f) Deadline.--All actions required under this section
shall be carried out not later than 18 months after the date
of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 7. EVALUATION.

(a) In General.--[The Director (or the lead agency
designated under section 6(b)) shall contract with the
National Academy of Public Administration to] The General
Accounting Office shall evaluate the effectiveness of this
Act. Not later than [4] 6 years after the date of enactment
of this Act, the evaluation shall be submitted to the lead
agency, the Director, and Congress. The evaluation shall be
performed with input from State, local, and tribal
governments, and nonprofit organizations.
(b) Contents.--The evaluation under subsection (a) shall--
(1) assess the effectiveness of this Act in meeting the
purposes of this Act and make specific recommendations to
further the implementation of this Act;
(2) evaluate actual performance of each agency in achieving
the goals and objectives stated in agency plans; and
(3) assess the level of coordination among the Director,
Federal agencies, State, local, and tribal governments, and
nonprofit organizations in implementing this Act.

SEC. 8. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the
Director or any Federal agency from gathering, or to exempt
any recipient of Federal financial assistance from providing,
information that is required for review of the financial
integrity or quality of services of an activity assisted by a
Federal financial assistance program.

SEC. 9. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

There shall be no judicial review of compliance or
noncompliance with any of the provisions of this Act. No
provision of this Act shall be construed to create any right
or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any
administrative or judicial action.

SEC. 10. STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed as a means to
deviate from the statutory requirements relating to
applicable Federal financial assistance programs.

SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE AND SUNSET.

This Act shall take effect on the date of enactment of this
Act and shall cease to be effective [5] 8 years after such
date of enactment.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the committee

[[Page S8697]]

amendments be agreed to, the bill be considered read a third time and
passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any
statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee amendments were agreed to.
The bill (S. 468) was read the third time and passed.

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