A proposed overhaul of the rules that would change how the U.S. Office of Management and Budget administers more than $1 trillion in grants to cities, counties and states has prompted nearly half a million people and organizations, including municipal leaders, to weigh in.
“I’ve been encouraged by the overwhelming response from elected officials across the country,” College Park, Georgia, Mayor Bianca Motley Broom told Smart Cities Dive. “Hopefully the collected voices around the country are heard on this.”
The proposed rule, which rewrites 2 CFR Part 200 - the Uniform Guidance, governs $1.1 trillion in public safety, transportation, housing, public health and emergency management grants, according to an action alert from the National Association of Counties. It would centralize and standardize federal grant processing while giving agencies significantly broader authority to terminate grants mid-award for reasons beyond noncompliance,
The grant changes proposed by the OMB — scheduled to go into effect Oct. 1 – would be “devastating” for small cities like College Park, Motley Broom said. “It’s already difficult enough for communities the size of 50,000 people and below to get access to federal funding.” These changes will “dissuade communities like ours from applying in the first place,” she said.
In a letter to the OMB, the National League of Cities highlighted four key concerns local governments have with the proposed rule:
- Expanding federal grant documentation, monitoring and compliance requirements could increase cities’ administrative burdens.
- Increasing federal agencies’ authority to terminate grants mid-award if the agency determines the grant no longer “advances program goals, agency priorities or the national interest” could create municipal budget uncertainty.
- Expanding monitoring requirements for federal grants that flow to local governments through states could increase administrative costs and slow delivery of funds.
- Requiring additional review of grants by senior political appointees could introduce partisanship into the grant process.
“A lot of the proposals OMB is putting forward are not supporting local governments’ partnership with the federal government,” Motley Broom said. “What I would like to see is a real conversation about these issues before any changes are made, including a real conversation with folks on the ground about what this looks like for cities.”
