Yesterday, Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, introduced a bill to clarify which Recovery Act funds can be used for state and local accountability and oversight efforts. Specifically, the bill would amend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 so that State and local governments receiving stimulus funds can set aside an amount up to "0.5 percent of such funds, in addition to any funds already allocated to administrative expenditures, to conduct planning and oversight to prevent and detect waste, fraud, and abuse."
Towns' legislation responds to calls from the GAO, IGs, and state and local governments for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to clarify this issue. Sometime in the coming weeks, Vice President Biden has promised updated OMB guidance on how states and localities can cover the administrative costs of tracking and reporting stimulus funds.
This clarification is a key priority. As Jill Satran, who is monitoring the Washington state stimulus money for Governor Chris Gregoire, told Stateline.org, "At the state level, people are being laid off...We don't have the resources to make sure we have all the systems in place and all the procedures are being followed...We are struggling."
POGO is also curious about what good government mechanisms are in place at the state level, such as legislative oversight and campaign contribution disclosures. Will the updated OMB guidance, or legislation, stipulate specific good government provisions for the stimulus funds?
-- Ingrid Drake
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