Grant Transparency Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. FRY. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5536) to require transparency in notices of funding opportunity, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 5536

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Grant Transparency Act of 2023''. SEC. 2. NOTICES OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TRANSPARENCY.

(a) Definitions.--In this section:

(1) Agency.--The term ``agency''--

(A) has the meaning given the term ``Executive agency'' in section 105 of title 5, United States Code; and

(B) does not include the Government Accountability Office.

(2) Competitive grant.--The term ``competitive grant'' means a discretionary award (as defined in section 200.1 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations) awarded by an agency--

(A) through a grant agreement or cooperative agreement under which the agency makes payment in cash or in kind to a recipient to carry out a public purpose authorized by law; and

(B) the recipient of which is selected from a pool of applicants through the use of merit-based selection procedures for the purpose of allocating funds authorized under a grant program of the agency.

(3) Evaluation or selection criteria.--The term ``evaluation or selection criteria'' means standards or principles for judging, evaluating, or selecting an application for a competitive grant.

(4) Notice of funding opportunity.--The term ``notice of funding opportunity'' has the meaning given the term in section 200.1 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations.

(5) Rating system.--The term ``rating system''--

(A) means a system of evaluation of competitive grant applications to determine how such applications advance through the selection process; and

(B) includes--

(i) a merit criteria rating rubric;

(ii) an evaluation of merit criteria;

(iii) a methodology to evaluate and rate based on a point scale; and

(iv) an evaluation to determine whether a competitive grant application meets evaluation or selection criteria.

(b) Transparency Requirements.--Each notice of funding opportunity issued by an agency for a competitive grant shall include--

(1) a description of any rating system and evaluation and selection criteria the agency uses to assess applications for the competitive grant;

(2) a statement of whether the agency uses a weighted scoring method and a description of any weighted scoring method the agency uses for the competitive grant, including the amount by which the agency weights each criterion; and

(3) any other qualitative or quantitative merit-based approach the agency uses to evaluate an application for the competitive grant.

(c) Applications; Data Elements.--

(1) In general.--The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in coordination with the Executive department designated under section 6402(a)(1) of title 31, United States Code, shall develop data elements relating to grant applications to ensure common reporting by each agency with respect to applications received in response to each notice of funding opportunity of the agency.

(2) Contents.--The data elements developed under paragraph (1) shall include--

(A) the number of applications received; and

(B) the city and State of each organization that submitted an application.

(d) Rule of Construction.--With respect to a particular competitive grant, nothing in this Act shall be construed to supersede any requirement with respect to a notice of funding opportunity for the competitive grant in a law that authorizes the competitive grant.

(e) No Additional Funds.--No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carrying out this Act.

(f) Effective Date.--

(1) In general.--This Act shall take effect on the date that is 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

(2) No retroactive effect.--This Act shall not apply to a notice of funding opportunity issued before the date of enactment of this Act.
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Mr. FRY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, before serving in Congress, I served in the South Carolina State legislature. Now, here in Washington, I am passionate about ensuring that State, local, and Federal Governments all work together and work together well.

During my time in office, I have heard from many of our local governments, and particularly in my district in those rural communities, that applying for Federal grant money can be a complicated and often confusing process.

In big cities, you often have professional staff that do this. In a small town, it is the mayor or his spouse that is doing this.

After putting time and effort into filling out a competitive grant application, applicants are left wondering why they were not chosen to be awarded Federal grant money, especially if they met all of the criteria listed when applying. This leads to grant applicants feeling as though the decisions are made behind closed doors. I think we can all agree that navigating the bureaucratic labyrinth known as Washington, D.C., can be complicated for local governments and for organizations.

Grant writers and applicant staff may even be unaware of which selection criteria are weighted more heavily when filling out applications.

The Grant Transparency Act requires Federal Government agencies to shine a light on their decisionmaking process when awarding competitive Federal grant money. With this legislation, Federal Government agencies would be required to disclose their selection methods when awarding competitive grants.

Specifically, the bill requires that notice of funding opportunities for all Federal competitive grants to have: one, a description of any rating system, evaluation, and selection criteria the agency uses to assess the grant application; two, a statement on whether the agency uses a weighted scoring method and a description of that method; and, three, any other qualitative or quantitative merit-based approach the agency may use to evaluate applications.

State and local governments across South Carolina's Seventh Congressional District and nationwide compete for Federal grant money on a continual basis. Federal grant money allows investment to come to our communities and improve the daily lives of our constituents, ranging from sewer and wastewater systems to airports, fire stations, and recreational facilities.

These are all things that Americans rely on and utilize in their daily lives. The Grant Transparency Act would help out our local governments and organizations when they fill out applications to compete for that funding. They deserve this transparency from their Federal Government.

Today, let's empower grant applicants to put their best foot forward and bring those Federal dollars home. I thank my Oversight Committee colleague Jasmine Crockett for co-leading on this bill. This simple bill has the potential to make a very meaningful impact in countless communities and nonprofits nationwide.

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Mr. FRY. Madam Speaker, I encourage all my colleagues to support this commonsense and bipartisan bill to make the application process for competitive grants much more transparent on our local governments and nonprofits.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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