What’s New with Grant Policies? DATA Act & OMB Memos

The 2017 fiscal year has been an important one for federal government grants. Milestones include the completion of a Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act) pilot program and the release of the OMB M-17-26 Reducing Burden for Federal Agencies by Rescinding and Modifying OMB Memorandum.

For seasoned grant professionals, you have probably heard about the DATA Act and are familiar with memos from OMB that provide new guidance on how to better manage and implement grants.

For a one-sentence catch-up, the DATA Act set out to improve the quality and transparency of federal award and spending data.

This year, federal agencies submitted data to the Department of the Treasury using the newly standardized data: Version 1.0 of the DATA Act Information Model Schema (DAIMS).

This was important progress that allowed for the launch of Beta.USAspending.gov, which is the new website that allows you—the public—to have easier access to federal spending data. Learn more about that here.

To read more about grant policy specifics or to find links to more resources and the full policies, go to the Grant Policies section of the Grants Learning Center.