1 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: A Snapshot Presented by: Tracy McLaughlin Kyle B. McQuaid

ARRA Facts Signed into law on February 17, 2009 Total Funding: $787B Goals: –Create jobs –Jumpstart economic growth –Provide direct tax relief Unprecedented accountability and transparency

ARRA Strategy Create or save 3.5 million jobs by providing direct tax relief Invest $150 billion in infrastructure projects Double renewable energy generating capacity over a three year period Provide funds to state and local governments to support health and educational programs

Ensuring Accountability and Transparency Funding for the “Watchdogs” Governor Certifications Quarterly Reporting

Ensuring Accountability and Transparency Objectives for federal agencies: ARRA funds awarded and distributed in a prompt, fair, and reasonable manner Recipients and uses of all ARRA funds are transparent to the public ARRA funds are used for authorized purposes only

Ensuring Accountability and Transparency Funded projects must: –Avoid unnecessary delays and cost overruns –Meet specific goals and targets, and contribute to improved performance on broad economic indicators –50% of funds must be initiated no later than 120 days after date of enactment

ARRA Fund Limits ARRA funds may not be used for casinos or other gambling establishments, aquariums, zoos, golf courses, or swimming pools Buy-American: all construction materials (iron, steel, and manufactured goods) must be produced in the U.S. All wages cannot be lower than those prevailing on projects of a character similar in the locality

ARRA Recipients Any recipient that has received an award must report – It does not matter if you have not received or spent any funds Prime Recipient –Receives funds directly from a federal agency –Must ensure that their own and sub-recipient data is accurate and complete –Perform data quality reviews for significant reporting errors and/or omissions Sub-Recipient –Receives funds from a prime recipient –Must ensure that their own data is accurate and complete –Perform data quality reviews for significant reporting errors and/or omissions

ARRA Reporting Data Quality –Accurate, complete, and timely –Avoid: Material omissions (% of project completed, estimated number of jobs) Significant report errors (reported values show a decrease from a prior reporting period) –Review process: Conduct a data quality review Federal agency could terminate the funding and/or initiation of suspension and debarment proceedings

ARRA Reporting Requirements Federal agency code Program source (TAS) DUNS number – should match DUNS number on the award/contract CFDA number Final report Award type, date, description, and amount Project and Grant period start and end date Project description and status Jobs created/retained – description and number Federal expenditure Total federal ARRA, federal non-ARRA and non-federal share expenditures

ARRA Reporting Phases and Timeline 1. Draft: 1–10 days Input reporting data 2. Initial Submission: days Review and make changes 3. Final submission: 22 – 29 days Federal agency reviews & comments 4. Publish: 30 days Recipient reports available on recovery.gov

ARRA Reporting: Jobs Jobs Created: –A new position created and filled or an existing position that is filled as a result of ARRA funding Jobs Retained –An existing position that would not have been continued to be filled had it not been for the ARRA funding A job cannot be counted as both Indirect support (e.g., clerical/admin staff) cannot be counted

ARRA Reporting: Jobs Must report all FTE created or retained –Total hours worked in jobs divided by the number of hours in a full-time schedule Reported in two separate fields (number and description) Recipients who do not perform their own work must get job creation estimates from the entity performing the work Federal agencies must provide guidance for the required sampling parameters

ARRA Reporting: Jobs Reported cumulatively each quarter

Auditing ARRA All ARRA programs are considered high risk due to the inherent risk with the new transparency and accountability requirements Buy-American Davis-Bacon Act –Submission of weekly certified payrolls –Prevailing wage rate clauses included ARRA funds are accounted for separately on the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) and Data Collection Form (SF-SAC) –The prefix “ARRA-” must be included in identifying the Federal program

Auditing ARRA Revenue should be coded to object 4500 –Allocation should be made to M&O, UCO & SCA based on normal state equalization distribution

Auditing ARRA-Req’d Program Codes Required sub-program codes: 199—Regular Education-SFSF 261—English Language Learners Incremental Costs- SFSF 266—English Language Learners Compensatory Instruction-SFSF 271—Vocational and Technological Education-SFSF 299—Special Education Other-SFSF (disability and other categories) 439—Pupil Transportation-English Language Learners Compensatory Instruction-SFSF 479—Pupil Transportation-Vocational and Technological Education-SFSF 499—Pupil Transportation Other-SFSF 699—Other Instructional Programs-SFSF

Let’s review…

Question 1 If a previously nonexistent position of plant receptionist occurs as a result of ARRA funds, it is counted as a job created. TRUEorFALSE Why? Support jobs are not counted as “Jobs Created/Retained”

Question 2 50% of funds must be initiated no later than 120 days after date of enactment TRUEorFALSE

Federal agency reviews and comments occurs during the Initial Submission phase TRUEorFALSE Question 3

Federal agency can not terminate the funding and/or initiate suspension and debarment proceedings as repercussion if correct reporting procedures are not followed TRUEorFALSE They can! Question 4

If a recipient has not spent any of the funds awarded to them, they are not required to report. TRUEorFALSE Any recipient that has been awarded must report Question 5

Thank you for attending. Presented by: Tracy McLaughlin Kyle McQuaid ext ext. 304 T