Linking the 2024 Uniform Guidance Revisions to the GONE Act
The 2024 revisions to the uniform guidance(2 C.F.R. Part 200) became effective Oct. 1. The provisions in 2 C.F.R. Part 200 have provided governmentwide guidance for the award, administration and evaluation of federal financial assistance since their introduction in 2013 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and their initial implementation by the now-disbanded Council of Financial Assistance (COFAR). The uniform guidance often is referred to as a “governmentwide framework for grants management.” The 2024 revised guidance significantly updates the last major revision of the guidance in August 2020.
On April 4, the White House and OMB stated in Memorandum (M-24-11), Reducing Burden in the Administration of Federal Financial Assistance:
“The Biden-Harris administration is making it possible for recipients of federal funding to focus more on the people they serve and to deliver results for their communities. This memorandum builds on previous efforts by providing direction to federal agencies on improving the management of federal financial assistance to ensure the consistent implementation of federal financial assistance policy. This administration continues to focus on efforts to streamline, simplify and make more accessible the processes, systems and data standards associated with federal financial assistance to reduce burden on federal agencies, applicants and recipients. The American people are our customers, and their experiences are central to the design of products and processes to deliver services. Government must also work to deliver services more equitably and effectively, especially for those who have been historically underserved.”
Concepts within the 2024 revisions to the uniform guidance tie back to the Grants Oversight and New Efficiency (GONE) Act (Pub. L. 114-117), which was principally created to “closeout grants and cooperative agreements that are in manual closeout with zero dollars and undistributed balances and which the period of performance has exceeded two years.” On Jan. 29, 2016, the Congressional Research Service (a nonpartisan research division of the Library of Congress), summarized the Act as follows:
(Sec. 2) This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget to instruct each agency, in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to submit to Congress and HHS by December 31 of the first calendar year beginning after this Act’s enactment a report that:
Lists each federal grant award held by such agency; provides the total number of federal grant awards, including the number of grants by time period of expiration, the number with zero dollar balances, and the number with undisbursed balances; describes the challenges leading to delays in grant closeout; and explains, for the 30 oldest federal grant awards why each has not been closed out. If an agency head is unable to submit all of such information, the report shall include an explanation of why the information was not available, including any shortcomings with and plans to improve existing grant systems, including data systems.
Each agency, within one year after submitting such report, shall provide notice to HHS specifying: (1) whether it has closed out all of the federal grant awards in the report, and (2) which awards have not been closed out. HHS, within 90 days after all of such notices have been provided or by March 31 of the calendar year following the first calendar year beginning after this Act’s enactment, whichever is sooner, shall compile, and report to Congress on, such notices.
The Inspector General of an agency with more than $500 million in annual grant funding, within one year after such agency has provided the notice to Congress, shall conduct a risk assessment to determine if an audit or review of the agency’s grant closeout process is warranted.
The OMB, within six months after the second such report on notices is submitted, shall report to Congress on recommendations for legislation to improve accountability and oversight in grants management, including the timely closeout of federal grant award.
The bill defines “federal grant award” as a grant, including a cooperative agreement, in an agency cash payment management system held by the U.S. government for which: (1) the grant award period of performance has been expired for more than two years, and (2) closeout has not yet occurred.
These directives as delineated in the GONE Act are an integral part of the 2024 uniform guidance revisions starting with data and information requirements incorporated in OMB’s mandates regarding the Federal Program Inventory (FPI) which launched Feb. 15. According to OMB, the FPI is:
“a new comprehensive, searchable tool with critical information about all domestic federal financial assistance programs. The FPI makes it easier for applicants and potential recipients to find programs, ensures the effective stewardship of taxpayer funds, and further increases government transparency. The FPI uses Assistance Listings, which are the comprehensive governmentwide source of federal financial assistance program information produced by the executive branch. The FPI connects program and performance information from program Assistance Listings to spending information required by the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014. OMB is committed to continuing to improve the FPI by working with federal agencies to add information to each listing to make the FPI more comprehensive, useful and consistent with other sources. To that end, by June 1, 2024, agencies must identify the Assistance Listings associated with each program or activity reported under the Payment Integrity Information Act (PIIA) of 20197 and submit to OMB a crosswalk of Assistance Listings and program or activity names used when fulfilling the requirements under PIIA.”
OMB’s intentional connections between the FPI, Assistance Listings, the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019, and the uniform guidance provides the foundation leading to efficient, timely and effective completion of the grant closeout requirements inspired by the GONE Act. According to §200.344(h), Closeout, the revised guidance states:
(h) The federal agency must make every effort to complete all closeout actions no later than one year after the end of the period of performance. If the indirect cost rate has not been finalized and would delay closeout, the federal agency is authorized to mutually agree with the recipient to close an award using the current or most recently negotiated rate. However, the recipient is not required to agree to a final rate for a federal award for the purpose of prompt closeout.
In §200.346, Collection of Accounts Due, the revised guidance states:
Any federal funds paid to the recipient or subrecipient in excess of the amount that the recipient or subrecipient is determined to be entitled to under the federal award constitute a debt to the federal government. The federal agency must collect all debts arising out of its federal awards in accordance with the Standards for the Administrative Collection of Claims.
For additional information on how federal agencies are adjusting to requirements under the GONE Act, and OMB’s administrative guidance on grants management, I recommend reading this April 2023 Government Accountability Office report.
As each federal agency updates their internal policies and regulations to adopt the 2024 revisions to the uniform guidance, all recipients of federal grant awards must be mindful of the variations in each agency’s rules. However, we believe that the efforts of the White House and OMB, as reflected in the 2024 revisions, represent a significant improvement in the management of federal financial assistance for all parties, and we will continue to assess our experiences with the revised guidance going forward.
Jesse Buggs is the director of the Office of Grant Development and Administration for the City of Bowie, Md. He is a member of the Maryland Efficient Grant Application Council and Thompson Information Services’ Grants Editorial Advisory Board. He is the past Chairman of the Metropolitan Council of Governments Housing Directors Advisory Committee and a member of the Metropolitan Washington Board of Trade Connected DMV Social Inclusion Workgroup. He serves as Board Chair of the Bowie Business Innovation Center at Bowie State University and he is a member of the National Grants Management Association and the Grants Professional Association.
