A new report by the Government Accountability Office found that, while some progress has been made in the federal government's effort to simplify and streamline grant-making procedures, there is still room for improvement. Consequently, federal grantees may be continuing to divert resources from program objectives to comply with burdensome administrative requirements. In a report released July 28, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified three areas that have not been adequately addressed as the federal government continues to streamline its grants process. In interviews with 17 grantees, GAO found that federal grantees still face an excessive administrative burden due to a continued lack of standardization, inadequate communication, and technical problems with Grants.gov, the website where grantees can find and apply for grants. Key issues identified by GAO include: Lack of Standardization Across Agencies According to the report, grantees find that many federal grant-making agencies still use different application, payment, and reporting systems. Grantees must submit forms at times by mail or Grants.gov, and at others by an online federal agency system. Additionally, agencies have not yet standardized definitions and formats for grant documents across all agencies. Many grantees also advocated "develop[ing] uniform reporting requirements, formats, guidelines and submission frequencies." Progress and financial reports due dates are often varied, and the information required for various grants can be vastly different. Technical Problems with Grants.gov A law enacted in 1999, P.L. 106-107, requires a common system that grantees can use to apply for, manage, and report on federal financial assistance. However, under the current Grants.gov application, grantees cannot manage or report on grants across multiple agencies. There is a stalled initiative currently within OMB to create this common system, but had grantees "been consulted about their priority of needs, greater emphasis may have been placed on implementing this initiative," according to the report. Inadequate Communication Between Grantors, Grantees and OMB GAO found that there has been a continued lack of communication between OMB and grantees that has "limited [grantees'] ability to use and understand new technology" implemented through Grants.gov. Some grantees had not even heard of Grants.gov, and others expressed concern about the lack of training they received on the grants management system. Again, the report finds "some of these issues may have been resolved more quickly if communication with grantees had been greater." GAO made two recommendations to further the grants streamlining process:

• OMB should ensure that grantees opinions are obtained as new technologies and policies are being created. Without ongoing grantee input, the enacted reforms are less likely to meet the needs of the grantees and achieve the purposes of P.L. 106-107.
• Congress should reauthorize P.L. 106-107 beyond its Nov. 2007 sunset date, because, as GAO concluded, "it appears that without additional oversight, the law's goals are not likely to be met in the short term."

Congress originally passed Public Law 106-107, the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act, in 1999 out of concern that administrative requirements imposed on federal grantees were overly burdensome. The legislation requires all 26 federal grant-making agencies to streamline administrative requirements for grantees and involve grantees in developing and implementing goals. It also requires the Office of Management and Budget to create a common application for all grants, currently called Grants.gov.