1. GAO Report Panel September 12, 1006

2. Panel Members and Moderator Moderator: –David G. Cassidy, Vice President, TCG Panelists: –Sandy Swab, NGMA –Ron Splittgerber, Co-Chair, EGBF, FDP –Cornelia Chebinou, NGP Co-Chair, NASACT –Kay Guinane, OMB Watch

3. Objectives of P.L.106-107 Create an administrative infrastructure to instantiate the purposes of P.L. 106-107: –Develop plans by each participating agency –Designate agency leads responsible for P.L. 106-107 –Develop an interagency process to work on streamlining activities Establish common systems and data standards: –Common application instruments –A common electronic grant application, management, and reporting system Create common rules, policies, and business processes: –Uniform interagency administrative rules –Improved interagency and intergovernmental coordination of information collection and sharing –Improved timeliness, completeness, and quality of information submitted by grantees to Federal grantors

4. GAO’s Findings Lack of standardization across agencies and grant administration inefficiencies –Continued proliferation of different application, reporting, and payment systems –Nomenclature differences across government –Agency grant processes do not align with typical grantee business processes Grants.gov implementation difficulties (particularly the lack of a non-PC client, its search capabilities, and the registration process) Inadequate progress across all streamlining initiatives (Grants.gov, GMLOB, workgroups) Continued lack of communication about grants streamlining between government and grantees GAO recommends that P.L. 106-107 be reauthorized beyond its November 2007 sunset date Desire for more definition about the scope and timeline for streamlining initiatives Desire for an end-to-end online grants management system that grantees can use to manage their grants across multiple agencies