"MONTHLY REVISION "SEC. 9. The President shall revise the catalog at no less than monthly intervals. Each revision "(1) shall reflect for each Federal assistance program any changes in the program information listed in section 6. "(2) shall further reflect addition, consolidation, reorganization, or cessation of Federal assistance programs, and shall provide for such Federal assistance programs the program information listed in section 6. "(3) shall include such other program information as will provide the most current information on changes in current funding status, on changes in organizations administering the Federal assistance programs, and on other changes of direct, immediate relevance to potential program beneficiaries as will most accurately reflect the full scope of Federal assistance programs, and the current organizational structure of the Federal agencies and departments that administer such programs. "(4) may include such other program information and data as in the President's opinion are necessary or desirable in order to assist the potential program beneficiary to understand and take advantage of each Federal assistance program. "PUBLICATION BY SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS "SEC. 10. The Superintendent of Documents shall make the catalog and all revisions thereof available to the public at cost in quantities adequate to meet public demand, providing subscriptions to the catalog and revisions thereof in such manner as he may determine. "The catalog shall be the only compendium of Federal assistance program information produced by any Federal agency or department, except as otherwise authorized by the President. "DELEGATION OF FUNCTIONS "SEC. 11. The President may delegate any function conferred upon him by this Act to the Director or other personnel of the Bureau of the Budget, with authority for redelegation within that Bureau, but no functions under this Act may be delegated to any other department, agency, or officer of the United States. 66 AMENDMENT TO BUDGET AND ACCOUNTING ACT, 1921 "SEC. 12. Section 207 of the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921 (31 U.S.C. 16) is amended (1) by inserting '(a)' immediately after 'Sec. 207.', and (2) by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection: "(b) The Bureau, under such rules and regulations as the President may prescribe, shall prepare the Catalog of Federal Assistance Programs in accordance with the Program Information Act, shall prepare proposals on improvements in the catalog so as further to assist the potential program beneficiary to understand and take advantage of each Federal assistance program, and shall make every effort to simplify and consolidate the various application forms and program guidelines that a potential beneficiary would use to benefit from each Federal assistance program, and to coordinate, simplify, and consolidate application forms and program guidelines of other related Federal assistance programs, administered either by the same or especially by different Federal agencies or departments. In order to facilitate its performance of any function specified in this title, the Bureau of the Budget may "(1) prepare information for machine processing; "(2) process information by machine by performing mathematical or logical operations thereon, selective retrieval, integration, or other machine operations; and “(3) prepare for presentation or other use information processed by machine. The Bureau may acquire automatic data processing equipment and retain personnel needed for any activity authorized by the Program Information Act". "TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS "SEC. 13. The functions of operating the Federal information exchange system and of preparing the catalog of Federal assistance programs administered prior to the enactment of this Act by the information center of the Office of Economic Opportunity are removed from the Office of Economic Opportunity and shall be administered instead by the Bureau of the Budget, not to be delegated therefrom to any Federal agency or department. Such personnel, records, property, and unexpended balances of appropriations related to functions under this Act as may be agreed upon between the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity and the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may be transferred from that Office to the Bureau." AGENCY REPORTS ADVISORY COMMISSION ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS, Hon. EDMUND S. MUSKIE, Washington, D.C., April 1, 1969. Chairman, Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request of March 24th for the views and recommendations of the Advisory Commission with respect to S. 60, a bill to create a catalog of Federal assistance programs, and for other purposes, which has been referred to your Subcommittee for consideration. The bill provides that the President shall send to Congress at the beginning of each regular session a catalog of Federal assistance programs, along with information describing efforts to simplify and consolidate application forms and procedures. Such a catalog would outline all the basic information a potential applicant for Federal programs might need, and would be revised at no less than monthly intervals. It also would serve as the only overall compendium of program information published by any Federal agency or department. The basic task of assembling this document would be assigned to the Bureau of the Budget and provision is made for the transfer to the Bureau of OEO's functions of operating the Federal Information Exchange System and of preparing the catalog of Federal assistance programs. The Superintendent of Documents is given the responsibility of printing and distributing the catalog. While the Advisory Commission has not specifically endorsed the proposal that a single catalog on grants-in-aid should be developed, two years ago the Commission adopted two recommendations, which relate directly to this proposed legislation, during its deliberations on Fiscal Balance in the American Federal System. Among its proposals for improving Federal coordination and management of grant-in-aid programs are the following: The Commission recommends an elevation of attention on the part of the President and the Congress to the more general need of insuring the conduct and coordination of Federal grant and other programs in such a way as to improve the overall capability of State and local government and consequently strengthen the American federal system. *** The Commission further recommends the strengthening of the Bureau of the Budget's capability to sustain a vigorous program of interagency coordination of Federal grants-inaid. The Commission recommends that the President establish within an appropriate agency of the Executive Branch a computerized system for storage and retrieval of information essential for the administration of grantsin-aid, formulation of Federal-State-local fiscal policies and other policy and management purposes. *** The Commission recommends that tapes and other data resulting from these systems be made available to State and local governments. The development of a single catalog on grant-in-aid information clearly constitutes one significant way of elevating the attention of the Executive Branch with respect to these programs, of bridging the "information gap" concerning them, potentially of improving the basis of program coordination, and of bolstering the top management functions of the Bureau of the Budget. The Commission also believes that the provision of this legislation relating to the consolidation and simplification of grant application forms and regulations is a meritorious one. The Commission then endorses the purposes of S. 60. At the same time, staff analysis of the legislation reveals certain difficulties that may arise concerning specific provisions of the bill: (1) The all encompassing definitions of "Federal assistance program 'benefits'" and of "Federal assistance program 'beneficiaries' " appearing in Section 2 raise serious questions concerning the size of the proposed catalog and what groups or individuals are to benefit primarily from its issuance. In short, the scope envisioned by these two provisions of the legislation is so broad as to render any document published under these guidelines unmanageable from the point of view of potential beneficiaries—especially State and local officials-and of the compilers. (2) The question of scope again arises in connection with the "purpose" cited in Section 5 and the program information required under Section 6. If a more manageable document is to emerge, changes in Section 5 could be made so as to identify the primary users of the catalog-hopefully State and local officials-along with corresponding changes in the information format set forth in Section 6 and the relevant definitions in Section 2. (3) The monthly revision process provided under Section 9 appears to raise serious questions of feasibility and, in all likelihood, would lead to a flow of paper and the emergence of bulky looseleaf appendices to the basic document. Such a development would defeat one of the bill's basic purposes namely a catalog that "assists" a potential program beneficiary "to understand or take advantage of each Federal assistance program" [See Section 7(b)]. Administrative necessity and user needs combine to indicate the need for some modification of Section 9 of S. 60. (4) The assignment of lead responsibility for assembling this catalog to the Bureau of the Budget under Sections 11, 12, and 13 is commendable, but little to no recognition is given to the inevitable increase in and the cost of manpower and computer equipment that such a responsibility will necessitate. In your deliberations on S. 60, notice might be taken of Budget Bureau Circular A-89 which is geared to developing one, comprehensive, governmentwide "catalog of Federal domestic assistance." The purpose and the scope of this document, as well as the role of the Budget Bureau, in all major respects, parallel the provisions of S. 60. At the same time, the Circular states that such a ... Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance' is not intended to be a substitute for agency publications which deal with the details of their own programs . . ." This loophole in A-89 potentially could lead to the kind of catalog proliferation that has characterized Federal information efforts in this area during recent years. We appreciate your courtesy in permitting us to provide our views on this legislation. Sincerely yours, Hon. EDMUND S. MUSKIE, FARRIS BRYANT, Chairman. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Chairman, Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations, DEAR SENATOR MUSKIE: This is in reply to your request of March 24, 1969, for a report on S. 60, a bill "To create a catalog of Federal assistance programs, and for other purposes." This Department is in agreement with the fundamental purpose of S. 60. The bill provides that the Bureau of the Budget issue a catalog of Federal assistance programs useful to potential beneficiaries, and that the catalog shall provide information designed to: 1. identify the program, its objectives, and authorizing statutes, 2. describe the program structure and eligibility requirements, 3. state the level of program funding and give other financial information, 4. state cost to recipients and duties required of recipients, 5. identify appropriate local and Washington officials to contact, 6. describe the mechanics of making an application, and 7. identify related programs. The bill also requires that the catalog shall be revised at no less than monthly intervals to reflect changes in program information, current status of funding and administration, and other changes relevant to potential program beneficiaries. Many of the provisions of the bill are now being administered through a Federal Information Center in the Office of Economic Opportunity through the issuance of "The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance"-most recent issue January 1969. We feel certain provisions of the bill under Sec. 6 "Required Program Information" and Sec. 7 "Form of Catalog" are too inflexible to accomplish the purpose of making the catalog more useful and understandable to potential beneficiaries. It is doubtful whether detailed financial data and statements of prerequisites for benefits could be sufficiently specific to help potential applicants understand their responsibilities and duties more clearly and to know more about funding requirements for specific projects or to help local officials initiate an application without staff assistance from the responsible Federal agency. We feel prerequisites for receiving benefits can best be explained or clarified through consultations with local agency representatives in the pre-application stage. This Department has a network of agency field offices covering essentially every county and potential project area in the United States. Agency representatives at these field locations know the local community and other leaders and would often be the first to learn of local interest in Federal assistance programs. This places them in a very advantageous position to serve directly or to make referrals to the appropriate Federal officials responsible for programs outside their area of responsibility. We believe there is a need for a compendium of Federal assistance program information and that the compilation of selected program information simply presented would increase the Catalog reader's knowledge of Federal assistance programs that would materially benefit his rural or urban community. The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely, CLIFFORD M. HARDIN, Secretary of Agriculture. Hon. EDMUND S. MUSKIE, U.S. ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION, Chairman, Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations, DEAR SENATOR MUSKIE: We are pleased to respond to your letter of March 24, 1969, requesting our views on S. 60, a bill "[t]o create a catalog of Federal assistance programs, and for other purposes." We note that an identical bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives and that a similar bill 2 was introduced in the Senate during the 90th Congress. As provided in Section 5 of the bill, its primary purpose would be to obtain a catalog that would "assist the potential beneficiary [to] identify all existing federal programs wherever administered, and supply information for each program so that the potential beneficiary can determine whether particular assistance or support sought might be available to him to use for the purposes he wishes." To accomplish this purpose, the catalog, which would be maintained by the Bureau of the Budget and submitted by the President annually to the Congress, would list specified program information for each federal assistance program. In addition to detailed budgetary information, the "required program information" would include: (1) identification of the program (by statute, office, description and objectives); (2) a description of the program structure (eligibility restrictions, benefits and restrictions thereon); (3) the level of funding; (4) any costs to the recipient receiving assistance; (5) identification of officials to contact; (6) the mechanics of applying for assistance; and (7) and related programs. Under Section 10, the catalog would be deemed "the only compendium of Federal assistance program information produced by any Federal agency or department, except as otherwise authorized by the President". The catalog would have to be revised "at no less than monthly intervals", with the scope and extent of the revision being specified in Section 9. We believe that while the bill seeks to achieve an end that is generally desirable, the scope of the catalog and the procedures specified for its compilation and revision may present substantial administrative and economic difficulties. Since the definition of the term "federal assistance program" is all-inclusive, the proposed catalog, considering the information that it would be required to contain, would result in a compendium of sizeable proportions, which would be costly, in terms of time and effort, to compile and reproduce. 1 H.R. 338, introduced on January 3, 1969, by Rep. Roth. 2 S. 3732, introduced on July 2, 1968, by Sen. Boggs. As you know, there has been published recently a "Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance" dated January 1969, which supersedes the original comprehensive catalog of this type bearing the date June 1, 1967. If Congress should determine that a more comprehensive and detailed catalog as envisaged by S. 60 is desirable, the requirement for monthly revision of the catalog would impose a substantial administrative and cost burden. We therefore believe that the updating or revision of such a catalog, if it should be undertaken, should be on a less frequent basis. Section 7(a) would require "detailed budgetary information" to be included in the proposed catalog for each assistance program. In the absence of a clearer definition of this type of information, we believe that this requirement would also impose an inordinately heavy burden on agency budget staffs. For this reason we suggest that the type of budgetary information be limited to the type of funding information generally along the lines of that called for in Section 6(3). Section 10 of the bill, as we understand it, is designed to assure that the catalog would be the authoritative compendium of Federal assistance programs subject only to the Presidential exemption. We believe strongly that agencies should retain necessary authority for issuing other information relating to their programs as necessary and appropriate for particular purposes or intended recipients. For example, with respect to AEC's Reactor Development Program, the Commission issues from time to time public information releases announcing procedures for contracting for its Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) program, the availability of LMFBR program plan documents, requests for proposals, etc. We assume that the issuance of this type of information would not be precluded under Sec. 10, and that the inclusion of the "program information" required under this section could, as appropriate, be accomplished through suitable incorporation by reference. In view of the substantial problems that the bill appears to present, as ontlined above, the Commission would not favor enactment of S. 60 in its present form. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the administration's program. Cordially, GLENN T. SEABORG, Chairman. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington, D.C., July 11, 1969. Hon. EDMUND S. MUSKIE, Chairman, Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations, Committee on Government Operations, U.S. Senate, Old Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request of March 24, 1969, for our comments on S. 60, a bill "To create a catalog of Federal assistance programs, and for other purposes." S. 60 would require that the President transmit annually to the Congress a catalog of Federal assistance programs together with a report on measures taken during the preceding year to simplify, coordinate, and consolidate application forms and guidelines for such programs. The catalog would be made available to the public. The bill specifies items of information on each program which must be included in the catalog and sets forth the form of the catalog. It also provides that the catalog must be updated on at least a monthly basis. Under the bill, the President could delegate only to the Bureau of the Budget the responsibility for carrying out the functions conferred by the bill. The functions of operating the Federal information exchange system and of preparing the catalog of Federal assistance programs now carried out by the Office of Economic Opportunity would be transferred to the Bureau of the Budget, together with related personnel, records, property and unexpended balances of appropriations. We fully recognize that the growing complexity and number of Federal programs have created a need for better program identification and information in support of executive and legislative decision-making as well as to improve Federal-State-local cooperation and coordination and to inform potential recipients of available Federal aid. In response to this need for better information on Federal assistance programs the Bureau of the Budget issued Circular A-89, dated August 23, 1968, providing for the development and annual publication of a Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. A copy of the Circular is enclosed. |