July 31, 1973
Page 26805
By Mr. MUSKIE (for himself, Mr. ERVIN, and Mr. GURNEY) (by request)
S. 2299. A bill to provide authority to expedite procedures for consideration and approval of projects drawing upon more than one Federal assistance program, to simplify requirements for operation of those projects, and for other purposes. Referred to the Committee on Government Operations.
JOINT FUNDING SIMPLIFICATION ACT OF 1973
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, on behalf of myself, Mr. ERVIN and Mr. GURNEY, I introduce, by request, a bill to provide authority to expedite procedures for consideration and approval of projects drawing upon more than one Federal assistance program; to simplify requirements for operation of those projects, and for other purposes.
This legislation was requested by the Office of Management and Budget and builds upon language included in title III of S. 834, the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1973. I ask unanimous consent that a letter from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget explaining the need for the legislation be printed in the RECORD at this point.
There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET,
Washington, D.C.,
March 20, 1973.
Hon. SPIRO T. AGNEW,
President of the Senate,
Washington, D.C.
DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: I am transmitting for appropriate action a draft of the Joint Funding Simplification Act of 1973. It is similar to legislation enacted by the House of Representatives in the 91st Congress, which the Administration supported and continued to support in the 92nd Congress.
The proposed bill would provide the means by which the funds, procedures and administrative requirements of related programs could be brought together simply and speedily to support a particular project or group of projects for which Federal assistance is being sought. Thus, the proposal supplements such other efforts of the Administration to streamline Federal assistance as revenue sharing and administrative reform of grant program requirements.
Over the past several years we have been conducting experiments in funding simplification under existing limited authority including our Integrated Grant Administration (IGA) experiment now being conducted in 27 jurisdictions throughout the country. The experience gained through the conduct of the IGA Program has convinced us that permanent legislative authority is desirable. It is unnecessarily difficult, expensive, and time-consuming to attempt to bring together resources from different programs to meet the expressed needs of grant recipients when we must rely almost entirely on the flexibility of individual agency authorities.
The proposed legislation would not affect the substance of existing grant programs. The identity and the purpose of each program would remain untouched. However, program funds could be applied to appropriate projects more effectively and more expeditiously under the proposed authorities.
In the past, we have supported Intergovernmental Cooperation Act proposals because they would have been useful, although not legally required, in moving forward with simplification and improvements in grant administration. At this point, however, many of the improvements have been made administratively, and additional legislative leverage is no longer necessary in view of the progress that has been made. We, therefore, have drafted the enclosed bill concentrating on Joint Funding which does require legislation.
We urge the prompt enactment of this bill.
Sincerely,
ROY L. ASH, Director