ARRA Duties Defer Oversight of Traditional Grants

Washington, May 27 – Federal agencies are assigning many of their employees to issue funds quickly under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to the detriment of traditional grant programs. A recent survey shows that a large number of agency officials are concerned that they have inadequate staff to accomplish their Recovery Act and non-Recovery Act work, creating the concern that post-award responsibilities may be overlooked.

“Our concern with those gaps is how oversight is accomplished. If staff is tied up actually trying to get the grants awarded and no one is watching the grant after it’s gone out the door, that’s a big risk,” said Todd Zinser, Department of Commerce Inspector General and member of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, at a recent National Grants Management Association luncheon. “The Recovery Act has put a real strain on the workforce at the expense of the normal programs.”