Cliff or No Cliff, We've Got Regulations to Update
February 4, 2013
The latest fiscal cliff issue is the debt ceiling. Since the Federal Government spends more each year than it acquires in tax revenue, the government runs an annual deficit. These yearly deficits are financed through borrowing and add to the overall amount of debt of the Federal Government. Congress has placed a limit on the amount of debt that the Federal Government can incur, which is called the debt ceiling. Congress hit the ceiling at the end of December and needs to pass legislation to raise its borrowing limit. Earlier this month, Congress did just that -- sort of. The legislation passed by both the House and Senate, which is expected to be signed into law, authorized a four-month extension of the debt limit. Interestingly, the legislation also contained a provision to withhold the pay of lawmakers in a chamber of Congress that fails to pass a budget blueprint by April 15, 2013. The hope is that this deadline will add more fuel to the negotiating fire.
Unfortunately, there are still more cliff issues with which to deal. Budget sequestration is still on the table and could mean an across-the-board cut of about five percent to non-defense discretionary spending if Congress does not act before March 1, 2013. At the same time, the current six-month continuing resolution for Fiscal Year 2013 Appropriations will expire on March 27, 2013, and Congress will need to make a decision on program funding for the rest of the FY 2013 year. All of this means that stations should continue to plan for potential cuts to key federal grant programs, given the uncertainty around federal funding.
Stations also need a plan for demonstrating program effectiveness. In December's Grant Center newsletter, we told you about the Office of Management and Budget's May 2012 memo to the heads of Executive Departments and Agencies on the use of evidence and evaluation in the 2014 budget, and the Administration is continuing to develop those themes. This time, the U.S. Department of Education is asking for comment on proposed changes to the Education Department General Administration Regulations (EDGAR). These regulations govern the administration of the Department's formula and competitive grant programs. While changes to EDGAR would normally be considered bureaucratic and mundane, these proposed changes are of interest because they focus on improving performance measurement, evidence of effectiveness, and evaluations, among other things.
With regard to performance measurements, the proposed changes would clarify that the Secretary may require competitive grant applicants to propose their own project-specific performance measures, baseline data and performance targets. Further, under the proposal the Secretary could require applicants to describe how they would collect and report the performance data. In addition, current EDGAR includes very brief language requiring a grantee to submit to the Department an annual report that evaluates the grantee's progress in achieving grant objectives, the effectiveness of the project in meeting program objectives, and the effect of the project on participants. The Department's proposal would expand on this language by requiring grantee evaluations to meet any standards set in the approved application. In the notice, the Department also proposes to give the authority to the Secretary to give special considerations to applications for competitive grants that are supported by "strong evidence of effectiveness" or "moderate evidence of effectiveness." While most of these changes are not dramatic and mostly codify practices the Department has been using, it's all about data and evidence now. Each move by the Administration confirms that fact.
The Grant Center is currently reviewing the proposed changes to EDGAR to determine if we should comments, on behalf of stations. The deadline for comment on these proposals is February 12, 2013. Once that deadline passes, the Department will need to prepare a response to each comment received, which it will publish in the same Federal Register notice that announces the final EDGAR changes. Because there are a large number of proposed changes, which may provoke a large number of comments, and because the final notice will need to go through Office of Management and Budget clearance, it is likely that the final regulations will not be issued for at least a few more months, and it is possible that they will not effect U.S. Department of Education grant-making until Fiscal Year 2014.
