[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3994 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3994
To authorize and encourage the United States Agency for International
Development to pursue a model of locally led development and
humanitarian response and expanded engagement with local partners and
to increase its local partner base.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 20, 2024
Mr. Coons (for himself, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Kaine, and Mr. Ricketts)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize and encourage the United States Agency for International
Development to pursue a model of locally led development and
humanitarian response and expanded engagement with local partners and
to increase its local partner base.
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 ``Locally Led Development and
Humanitarian Response Act''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to encourage USAID to pursue a model of
locally led development and humanitarian response and expanded
engagement and partnership with local entities.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) locally led development and humanitarian response--
(A) is more equitable and inclusive;
(B) is linked to more efficient and sustainable
development and humanitarian outcomes; and
(C) is vital to building long-term self-reliance;
(2) over multiple presidential administrations, USAID has
sought to achieve greater development outcomes through stronger
local partnerships, including through ``Country Ownership'',
``The Journey to Self-Reliance'', and ``Locally Led
Development'';
(3) USAID should increase direct funding to local entities,
including by increasing the amount of development and
humanitarian assistance to such entities;
(4) USAID should ensure its programming enables local
communities to exercise leadership over priorities, project
design, implementation, and measuring and evaluating results of
such programs;
(5) working with local partners often requires more time
and resources than traditional partners, including extended
availability of funds and additional staff resources; and
(6) increased flexibility is critical to enable USAID to
respond to local priorities and leverage local capacities,
including with respect to staffing, availability of funds,
program design, and acquisition and assistance processes.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate;
(B) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
(C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House
of Representatives; and
(D) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(2) NICRA.--The term ``NICRA'' means Negotiated Indirect
Cost Rate.
(3) USAID.--The term ``USAID'' means the United States
Agency for International Development.
SEC. 5. WORKING WITH LOCAL PARTNERS.
The Administrator of USAID should, to the extent feasible and
appropriate, localize the USAID partner base by--
(1) simplifying and increasing access to USAID resources
for local partners in humanitarian and development sectors,
including local partners who have relations, agency, or power
structures in place that produced, or can produce, strong
trust, accountability, and legitimacy in the communities or
networks in which such partners work;
(2) diversifying award types to streamline performance
requirements and working with the Office of Management and
Budget to address threshold constraints, such as fixed amount
subaward thresholds, category management award targets, and
other thresholds, policies, and contracting incentives that
pose a barrier to effectively supporting local partners;
(3) streamlining monitoring and evaluation, periodic
reporting, and other USAID reporting requirements;
(4) ensuring USAID staff are able and encouraged to conduct
regular consultation with local partners in local languages of
the host countries, making available solicitations for
acquisitions and assistance and accepting submissions in local
languages, video format, or verbal presentations, including
by--
(A) investing in translation services;
(B) hosting workshop-based engagements; and
(C) advertising solicitations in local trade
publications, local media including newspapers and
radio, local community centers, and local online
forums;
(5) allowing and promoting multi-year, flexible, tiered,
and milestone-based funding for new programs and to bring
successful programs to scale;
(6) strengthening the capacity of USAID staff and local
partners to undertake risk management and mitigation;
(7) supporting consistent and unimpeded access to full cost
recovery for local partners implementing activities funded by
USAID;
(8) assessing current definitions of ``local partner'',
``local ownership'', and ``localization'' used by USAID for
programming and reporting metrics, and updating such
definitions, as necessary;
(9) undertaking outreach campaigns and engaging with local
partners (formally and informally) to raise awareness about
opportunities and the process for applying for and managing
awards in compliance with applicable Federal regulations and
USAID policies, and ensuring such engagement is accessible to
all entities, including unregistered and informal
organizations;
(10) strengthening oversight of capacity strengthening
components of awards to ensure United States and international
awardees are making good-faith efforts to strengthen local
organizations' capacities, including independent and external
evaluations to evaluate the mentorship process and regular
feedback loops;
(11) expeditiously solving the shortage of contracting
officers within USAID, including granting warrants to qualified
staff and providing appropriate training;
(12) addressing performance evaluation criteria to create
greater workforce incentives for USAID personnel to champion
locally led development;
(13) addressing internal delays and recipient organization
issues that result in the required extension of provisional
NICRAs, in accordance with section 200.414(g) of title 2, Code
of Federal Regulations;
(14) conducting NICRA seminars in local languages and
providing NICRA documentation in local languages; and
(15) ensuring that contracting officers and agreement
officers communicate to awardees who do not submit for a NICRA
that they are eligible for the de minimis indirect cost rate.
SEC. 6. INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Administrator of USAID shall initiate policy actions,
including rulemaking, if necessary, to institutionalize the actions
taken pursuant to section 5, to the extent appropriate and feasible,
within all relevant USAID internal rules and regulations, including--
(1) the Automated Directive System;
(2) the Acquisition and Assistance Strategy;
(3) the Local Capacity Strengthening Policy;
(4) the Localization of Humanitarian Assistance Strategy;
(5) the USAID Acquisition Regulation;
(6) the Local Systems Framework; and
(7) the Private Sector Engagement Policy.
SEC. 7. AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT APPLICATIONS, PROPOSALS, AND CONTRACTING
AGREEMENTS IN LOCAL LANGUAGES AND LOCAL LANGUAGE SUPPORT.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, USAID
is authorized to accept applications or proposals in languages other
than English if--
(1) such acceptance eases the burden of a local entity
working with USAID; and
(2) USAID staff are able to effectively evaluate such
applications or proposals.
(b) Local Language Support.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator of USAID shall conduct
an assessment of options to enable USAID to utilize local
languages to support local partners with award solicitations,
proposals and applications, evaluations, management, and close
out, including advising local partners on applicable United
States regulations and USAID policies and local country rules
and regulations common in such activities.
(2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of USAID shall submit
a report to Congress containing the results of the assessment
conducted pursuant to paragraph (1).
SEC. 8. MODIFICATIONS RELATING TO THE CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS AND
OTHER REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Increase in the De Minimis Indirect Cost.--The Administrator of
USAID is authorized--
(1) to increase the de minimis indirect cost rate provided
for in section 200.414 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations,
or in any successor regulations, to 15 percent for local
entities receiving USAID assistance awards;
(2) to establish a similar de minimis indirect cost rate of
15 percent for acquisitions awarded to local entities pursuant
to title 48, Code of Federal Regulations; and
(3) to further increase such threshold if such action is
recommended by regulations promulgated by the Office of
Management and Budget.
(b) Exemption for Local Entities.--The Administrator of USAID is
authorized to exempt local entities, as needed, from the reporting
requirements under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency
Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6106 note; Public Law 109-282) to allow for a
180-day delay in obtaining a unique entity identifier and registration
in the System for Award Management if such exemption is not granted
later than 30 days before the end of the award's period of performance.
(c) Local Competition Authority.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the Administrator of USAID, or a designee of the
Administrator, may award contracts and other acquisition
instruments in which competition is limited to local entities
if such process would--
(A) result in cost savings;
(B) strengthen local capacity; or
(C) enable USAID to deliver a program or activities
more sustainably or quickly than if competition were
not so limited.
(2) Limitation.--The authority granted under paragraph (1)
may not be used--
(A) to make acquisition awards in excess of
$25,000,000; or
(B) with respect to more than 10 percent of the
amounts appropriated to USAID in any fiscal year.
(d) Use of National or International Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles.--The Administrator of USAID, in consultation with the
Administrator of the General Services Administration, the Secretary of
Defense, and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, may permit foreign entities to use national or
international generally accepted accounting principles instead of
United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for
contracts or grants awarded under chapter 7 of title 2, Code of Federal
Regulations, or chapter 7 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations.
SEC. 9. ANNUAL REPORT.
Not later than 180 days after the last day of each fiscal year, and
annually thereafter, the Administrator of USAID shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees and publish on the USAID website a
report on the progress made by USAID during the most recently completed
fiscal year to advance locally led development and humanitarian
response, which shall include, with respect to the reporting period--
(1) the amount of funding expended directly or indirectly
by local entities, including through all development and
humanitarian assistance programs;
(2) an assessment of how USAID is enabling more local
leadership of programs funded by USAID, including--
(A) recipients of direct funding;
(B) subrecipients and subcontractors to an
international implementing partner;
(C) participants in a USAID-funded program; and
(D) members of a community affected by a USAID
program;
(3) an assessment of progress made by USAID towards
implementing--
(A) the Acquisitions and Assistance Strategy;
(B) the Local Capacity Strengthening Policy;
(C) the Policy on Locally Led Humanitarian
Assistance; and
(D) any other relevant strategies and policies;
(4) an assessment of--
(A) how USAID is using the new authorities granted
under sections 7 and 8; and
(B) the impact of such authorities on the ability
of USAID to work with local partners; and
(5) an assessment of--
(A) the number of organizations with a NICRA known
to USAID that are utilizing provisional NICRAs for
longer than 4 years without a final NICRA; and
(B) the steps that USAID recommends be taken to
reduce the extension of provisional NICRAs beyond 1
year.
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