OMB, Feds Respond to Questions on Recovery Act

Washington, March 31 – The Association of Government Accountants’ Partnership for Intergovernmental Management and Accountability recently held a conference call on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Following are abridged responses offered during a question-and-answer session. The participants were Danny Werfel, deputy controller at the Office of Management and Budget; Sheila Conley, deputy chief financial officer at the Department of Health and Human Services; Owen Barwell, deputy chief financial officer at the Department of Energy; Kristine Leiphart, deputy chief financial officer of the Federal Transit Administration; and Melinda Morgan, director of the financial staff at the Department of Justice.

Q: If a local government has a scheduled contract in place to purchase goods and services, can it use that existing contract and build off of it with Recovery Act requirements, or does it need to rebid the contracts?