Oregon responses to the federal grant review process survey, 2021
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States employ a variety of processes to apply for and administer federal grants. Ballotpedia's 2021 state survey of the federal grant review process examined the general processes applied by the 50 states in order to seek and distribute federal funds.
Research from the Pew Charitable Trusts found that federal funds made up 32% (roughly $639 billion) of all state revenue in 2017, making them the second-largest source of state revenue behind state tax collections.[1] States direct federal funds to government programs related to education, healthcare, transportation, infrastructure, and other policies.[1]
This page features Oregon's responses to Ballotpedia's 2021 survey.
Background
From August 5, 2021, to September 27, 2021, Ballotpedia staff contacted the executive and legislative budget offices of all 50 states via email and/or telephone to update a publicly available 2016 survey on state approaches to the federal grant review process.
Our staff contacted state officials with the following survey questions:
- Approval processes for federal grants
- What is your state’s process for federal grant applications and the approval process?
- What is your state’s approval process when the legislature is not in session?
- How does the legislature monitor the intent of federal grants? What legislative rules allow the state greater oversight of federal funds in the budgets?
- Contingency plans for the loss or decline of federal funds
- What is your state’s contingency plan in the case of a decline or loss of federal funds?
- Quality control processes for federal grants
- What is your state’s quality control process for tracking the effectiveness of federal funds?
- Does your state attempt to estimate the cost of federal fund requirements? If so, how?
- How does your state prioritize federal funds to best meet the needs of constituents?
- If your state doesn’t appropriate key federal funds like food stamps and unemployment benefits, are your state’s federal funds off-budget? How do you track this information?
Our staff also contacted state officials with the following two new survey questions regarding federal funds made available in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic:
- Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic funds
- Who has decision rights over American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State Fiscal Recovery Fund allocations in your state?
- Who has decision rights over Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund allocations in your state?
Oregon 2021 survey responses
What is your state’s process for federal grant applications and the approval process?
“Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) 291.375 requires legislative review and approval prior to the submission of any application for federal assistance or grants. The legislative review agency is either the Joint Committee on Ways and Means during a legislative session or the interim Joint Committee on Ways and Means or the Emergency Board during interims between sessions.”
What is the approval process when the legislature is not in session?
“The Legislature and the Executive Branch developed an interim procedure that allows for agencies to submit federal grant applications when the Legislature is not in session, but the agency submitting the application must seek official retroactive approval to apply from the legislative review agency the next time that review agency meets. In order to use this process, the agency must send in a letter to the Legislative Fiscal Office which is forwarded to legislative leadership that outlines the grant being applied for at least 10 days prior to the submittal of the application. The Emergency Board and the interim Joint Committee on Ways and Means meet approximately once per calendar quarter when the Legislature is not in session. If retroactive approval to apply is not provided, the agency must withdraw the federal grant application.”
How does the legislature monitor the intent of federal grants?
“When agencies seek legislative approval to apply for a federal grant, the agency must include information on how the grant helps achieve the agency’s mission and goals, whether there is any required state match (and, if so, the source of the match), whether any additional positions will be required to implement the grant, and whether or not there is any federal expectation of maintenance of effort once the grant funds expire, among other things. Control of federal funds in the budget is developed through the budget process where each state agency has an expenditure limitation associated with federal revenues. New grant funds from the federal government typically will require legislative approval at some point to increase the agency’s federal funds expenditure limitation to allow the expenditure of the grant funds.”
What is your state’s contingency plan for state financing in the case of losses or decline in federal funds?
“In the case of a federal grant for a dedicated program, the program would cease functioning. In the case of non-competitive grant federal funding, the Legislature would need to determine whether to end the programs supported by the federal funding, cut-back services provided by the programs supported by the federal funding, or determine whether sufficient state resources exist to backfill for the loss of the federal funding in order to continue services provided by the program. This would normally occur during a legislative session when budget priorities are discussed and determined.”
What is your state’s quality control process for tracking the effectiveness of federal funds?
“Oregon has a system of Key Performance Measures for each state agency. These KPMs are reviewed by the Legislature during the budget development process and include metrics on how an agency is performing on a variety of its programs and services, including those funded with federal revenues.”
Does your state attempt to estimate the cost of federal fund requirements? If so, how?
“Regarding maintenance of effort requirements to maintain federal funding, we consider that as part of the legislative budget development process to ensure receipt of federal funds by providing the required MOE level of state funding (if available). Generally, however, if a state chooses to participate in a federally funded program, then it needs to abide by the requirements of the program and to provide the necessary state resources to meet any program match requirements. These choices and resulting costs would be considered as part of the budget process. If you are referring to specific competitive federal grant programs, then that is considered as part of the approval of the grant application process to identify any match requirements, the source of the match, and whether or not the grant application is warranted given the nature of the required match.”
How does your state prioritize federal funds to best meet the needs of constituents?
“Most programs that receive federal funding are required to use that funding for specific federally required services and for specific purposes. These programs are prioritized during the budget development process and are included in the budget if any available state match requirements can be met within that legislatively adopted budget.”
If your state does not appropriate key federal funds like food stamps and unemployment benefits, are your state’s federal funds off budget? How do you track this information?
“Oregon budgets based on four fund types - General Fund, Lottery Funds, Other Funds, and Federal Funds. Other Funds (mostly fees, licenses, etc.) and Federal Funds are broken into two categories in the budget - Limited and Nonlimited. Limited funds have a corresponding expenditure limitation which caps the amount of the revenue that can be spent in the budget period. For programs that are more unpredictable and are affected by factors outside of the state’s direct control, we use Nonlimited authorizations. The best examples of nonlimited Federal Funds are food stamps and unemployment benefits. The anticipated amount of these revenues for the state’s budget period are included in the budget, but increases in expenditures can be accommodated administratively and do not need legislative approval until the next budget cycle.”
Who has decision rights over American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State Fiscal Recovery Fund allocations in your state?
"Under Oregon budget policy, Federal Funds expenditure limitation is provided in the legislatively adopted budget for state agencies to expend federal revenues during the two-year (biennial) budget period. During the 2021 session, the Legislature approved expenditure limitation for the use of ARPA State Fiscal Recovery Funds in the 2021-23 biennium. The Executive Branch is responsible for execution of the legislatively adopted budget, including administration of ARPA State Fiscal Recovery Funds within legislative authorizations and federal requirements."
Who has decision rights over Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund allocations in your state?
"The Executive Branch, through the Oregon Department of Education (Oregon’s State Educational Agency), determined the use and prioritization of the 10% of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund grant that was available to address emergency needs on a statewide basis and for the state administrative costs associated with the ESSER funds. School districts (Local Education Agencies) have discretion over their respective allocations of the 90% ESSER Fund formula subgrants to LEAs within federally allowable uses. Since the ESSER funds allocated specifically to school districts (90% of total ESSER funds) are distributed through the state budget, the Legislature approved expenditure limitation to pass this funding to districts, but had no role in directing the use of the funds."
Other state survey responses
Click on a state below to view its responses to the 2021 survey on the federal grant review process:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
See also
- State survey of the federal grant review process, 2021
- State responses to the federal grant review process survey, 2021
- State responses by question to the federal grant review process survey, 2021
- Federalism
External links
Footnotes
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