OMB Provides Some General Timeframes on Key Initiatives

Well, we now have a general idea when the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) plans to make some key announcements on some major ongoing grant-related efforts. However, nailing down a specific date is a bit more fuzzy.

OMB’s Rhea Hubbard was one of the keynote speakers Tuesday at the National Grants Management Association’s annual grants training in Crystal City, Va. For those awaiting the 2019 OMB Compliance Supplement, Hubbard said she anticipated that the document would be issued “very soon.” This year’s supplement especially is eagerly awaited by the grantee and auditing communities because OMB released a “skinny” supplement in 2018 to put extra effort in working to streamline the 2019 version to focus more on performance and burden reduction. Hubbard did note that OMB plans to take a new approach to compliance requirement testing, reducing the previous requirement for auditors to test up to 12 compliance requirements to a new plan in which agencies would require testing for six compliance requirements, depending on the program.

Hubbard also said that OMB also soon plans to respond to comments that were submitted earlier this year related to standard grant management data elements.

However, of most interest in our view is the latest on OMB’s five-year review of the uniform guidance, which is required in the guidance. Hubbard explained that OMB plans to pursue proposed rulemaking to make revisions to the uniform guidance this fall, adding that the intent of the proposed revisions are to address burden reduction for recipients, fix inconsistent terminology, resolve conflicts within the regulation, and address statutes enacted since the final guidance was issued. She stressed that the review would not result in a wholesale change of the uniform guidance. “Think of this as Uniform Guidance Version 1.1, not Version 2.0,” she added. The extent of the changes to the guidance was a key question we have long had, so it was good to finally get some clarification on that front.

We will be monitoring all these upcoming announcements from OMB and will let our subscribers know the latest when they happen, and what these changes will mean for your grant awards. Stay tuned!

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