Grants Oversight and New Efficiency Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, the bill before us, the Grants Oversight and New Efficiency Act, or GONE Act--and I like that name, it is a very catchy name, and you will see why in a moment--it seeks to improve the grant management process by requiring Federal agencies to report on expired grants. The Government Accountability Office has found that expired grants are not always closed out properly. In fact, GAO found that nearly $1 billion in undisbursed balances remained in expired and dormant grant accounts; therefore, the GONE Act's name.

But, Mr. Speaker, I would call this found money, not gone money. It is still there. Improving the grant closeout process will help protect taxpayer dollars and ensure that those dollars can be redirected to better uses.

This act may also incline agencies and localities to use funds they have asked for. This legislation would require agencies to report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and to Congress on the number of expired grants and those with undisbursed balances. For the oldest expired grants, agencies will need to explain why those grants have not been closed.

The bill would also require agencies to report a year after the initial report on progress made on grant closure. Hopefully, this increased accountability will bring improvement to grant management.

I commend Representatives Walberg and Lawrence for their work on this bipartisan, commonsense legislation.
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