OMB Guidance on Grants/Contracts During Goverment Shutdown

From: Joe Titone [mailto:titone@usc.edu] Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2011 8:00 PM To: cogr-list@usc.edu Subject: COGR: OMB Guidance on Grants/Contracts During Government Shutdown The Office of Management and Budget has issued a memorandum outlining issues related to the federal government’s Planning for Agency Operations During a Lapse in Government Funding. The guidance to Federal agencies includes a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) is available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda_default. Section II of OMB Director Jacob Lew’s memorandum to Heads of Departments and Agencies (M-11-13, April 7, 2011) addresses Questions and Answers on Contracts & Grants (page 6+). The Memorandum states “In the situation in which performance under an already-issued contract or grant is not impacted by such a lapse (as described in the memorandum), the contractor or grantee may continue to proceed with its work during the lapse period. “ It is important to note that agencies have the discretion to halt activity on individual grants or contracts but the grantee/contractor would be notified by the agency and normal termination provisions would prevail. This memorandum is designed to address activities conducted by Federal employees. Generally, Federal employees will not be conducting routine activities in oversight, inspection, accounting, administration, etc. No new grants or contracts will be issued. According to OMB, grantees can continue to drawdown funds on letters of credit for already issued grants during the shutdown. The PMS and ASP system will continue to function. Grants.gov will continue to operate. However, these systems will operate with limited capacity – help desks and administrative support activities will be significantly reduced. We will continue to review and evaluate the Memorandum and provide additional general observations and understandings to the membership. Carol Blum Director, Research Compliance and Administration Council on Governmental Relations (COGR) 1200 New York Ave., NW, Suite 750 Washington DC 20005 202-289-6655, ext. 117 cblum@cogr.edu