THE NEW OMB SUPERCIRCULAR: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?

UPERCIRCULAR “ UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS, COST PRINCIPLES & AUDIT REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL AWARDS” Federal Register Vol. 78, No. 248 December 26, 2013 Codified as: 2 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 200 OMB SUPERCIRCULAR

TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO FEDERAL GRANTS Assistance to others in accomplishing their own purposes “Gifts with strings attached” “Best efforts” are good enough The SUPERCIRCULAR changes all this!

COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE REFORM (COFAR) Comprised of major federal grant making departments and agencies: Department of Health & Human Services Department of Housing & Urban Development Department of Labor National Science Foundation Others

COFAR’S STATED REASONS FOR THE SUPERCIRCULAR to eliminate duplicative and conflicting guidance found in the various older OMB circulars, to provide for consistent and transparent treatment of costs, to encourage efficient use of information technology and shared services, to set standard business process using data definitions, to target audit requirements on risk of waste, fraud and abuse to limit allowable costs to make the best use of federal resources, to encourage non-federal entities to have family-friendly policies, to strengthen oversight, to focus on performance over compliance

COMMENTS SUBMITTED ON THE DRAFT SUPERCIRCULAR 360 organizations and individuals submitted written comments on the draft SUPERCIRCULAR No comments were received from the: National League of Cities, the National Governors Association or the ICMA

SUPERCIRCULAR REPLACES EIGHT (8) OMB CIRCULARS OMB Circular A-21 Cost Principles for Educational Institutions OMB Circular A-50 Single Audit Follow-up OMB Circular A-87 Cost Principles for State & Local Governments & Indian Tribes OMB Circular A-89 Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance OMB Circular A-102 Grants & Cooperative Agreements with State & Local Governments OMB Circular A-110 Uniform Administrative Requirements for Awards with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals & Other Non-Profit Organizations OMB Circular A-122 Cost Principles for nonprofit Organizations OMB Circular A-133 Audits of States, Local Governments & Non-Profit Organizations

CROSSWALK: OLD OMB CIRCULARS TO SUPERCIRCULAR SUPERCIRCULAR Subpart: Old OMB Circulars(s ) Subpart A – Acronyms & DefinitionsAll Circulars Subpart B – General ProvisionsAll Circulars Subpart C – Pre-Federal Award Requirements A-110 and A-89 Subpart D – Post-Federal Award Requirements A-110 and A-102 Subpart E – Cost PrinciplesA-21, A-787 and A-102 Subpart F: Audit RequirementsA-133

SUPERCIRCULAR CHANGES 1. PROCEDURAL 2. MINOR 3. MAJOR (FOCUS ON PERFORMANCE)

PROCEDURAL CHANGES Moving furniture - a rule, definition, concept, guidance, etc. has been moved from an Old OMB Circular to the SUPERCIRCULAR One stop shopping center

MINOR CHANGES Definitions (99 standard definitions) Cost Policies Grant Administration Requirements Audit Requirements Other Requirements Note: the cumulative impact of these “minor changes” could be a major change for any particular state or local government

MAJOR CHANGE: FOCUS ON PERFORMANCE The SUPERCIRCULAR trades financial compliance for performance accountability The word performance appears 177 times The word outcomes appears 22 times The word contract appears 265 times

MOVING TO PERFORMANCE Government Performance & Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) OMB Circular A-76 & Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) OMB Memorandum M-13-17: Next Steps in the Evidence & Innovation Agenda

GPRA Requires federal departments and agencies to report annually on their performance Focus on outcomes Federal problem with grants to: states, local governments, universities, others

OMB CIRCULAR A-76 & FAR Federal departments and agencies are to use performance - based contracting to the maximum extent possible

OMB MEMO M Guidance on FY 2015 federal budget Agencies are encouraged to allocate resources to programs and practices backed by strong evidence of effectiveness (outcomes) “Because many Federal dollars flow to states, locals, others, grants reforms are an importance component...”

SUPERCIRCULAR GRANT REQUIREMENTS Federal agencies must include the performance to be achieved Federal agencies must require recipients to relate financial data to performance Federal agencies may include specific performance goals, indicators, milestones, or expected outcomes

SUPERCIRCULAR GRANT REQUIREMENTS Federal agencies are required to provide recipients (grantees) with clear performance goals, indicators and milestones

SUPERCIRCULAR GRANT REQUIREMENTS Federal agencies may structure grant funding to include: progress payments based on accomplishing milestones unit price payments (unit of output, unit of service, outcome unit) fixed price payments (one payment at end of grant)

SUPERCIRCULAR IMPACT ON STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENTS The days of “gifts with strings attached” and “best efforts” are over Grants will function more like contracts Grant recipients will act more like administrative arms of the federal government Grant recipients will have more responsibilities for sub-recipients