ARRA/Transparency

In the face of an economic crisis, the magnitude of which we have not seen since the Great Depression, the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) represents a strategic — and significant — investment in our country’s future. ARRA provides an unprecedented level of funding to stimulate the U.S. economy and save or create millions of jobs over the next two years. The Act’s stringent transparency and reporting implications are game-changers for how Federal grant funds are managed.

The volume of Federal funds associated with ARRA, the speed at which grants are to be awarded, and the mandated accountability for outcomes require all recipients to rapidly change the way they are managing and reporting grant funds. To help the public sector meet these challenges, STR offers as part of its eGrantsPlus platform the capture of key data elements to support transparency reporting.

STR continues to monitor the evolving ARRA reporting guidance and mandates from OMB to test its overarching solution model and underlying concepts to ensure validity.

• June 22, 2009 OMB Implementing Guidance for ARRA Reports on Use of Funds
• April 8, 2009 OMB Memorandum – Improving Grants.gov
• April 3, 2009 OMB Updated Implementing Guidance for ARRA
• March 20, 2009 White House Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies “Ensuring Responsible Spending of Recovery Act Funds”
• March 9, 2009 OMB Recovery Act Implementation – Improving Grants.gov and Other Critical Systems
• February 18, 2009 OMB Initial Implementing Guidance for ARRA
• January 26, 2009 White House Press Release – “The American Reinvestment and Recovery Plan – By the Numbers”
• September 13, 2006 Federal Financial Accountability & Transparency Act (FFATA) - Congressional Record

Links:

http://www.recovery.gov
http://www.federalreporting.gov
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/