,,ii  #aahth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #cge  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,february #i1       
#bjbc,mr4 ,rubio 7for himself1 ,mr4     
,risch1 ,mrs4 ,capito1 ,mr4 ,wicker1    
,mr4 ,scott of ,florida1 and ,mr4       
,tuberville7 introduced the following   
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,homeland ,security
 and ,governmental ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  
,to simplify the grant process for      
nonurbanized areas1 and for other       
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,simplifying ,grants
 ,act of #bjbc4  #b4 ,definitions ,in   
this ,act3 7#a7 ,agency ,the term agency
 means an ,executive department or      
independent establishment1 as such terms
 are defined in sections #aja and #ajd  
of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code1     
respectively4  7#b7 ,covered local      
government ,the term covered local      
government means a local government with
 jurisdiction over an area of which the 
population is less than the population  

required to be an urbanized area4  7#c7 
,director ,the term ,director means the 
,director of the ,office of ,management 
and ,budget4  7#d7 ,local government    
,the term local government means a      
county1 municipality1 city1 town1       
township1 or other general purpose      
political subdivision of a ,state4  7#e7
 ,state ,the term ,state means any      
,state of the ,united ,states1 the      
,district of ,columbia1 and any         
commonwealth1 territory1 or possession  
of the ,united ,states4  7#f7 ,urbanized
 area ,the term urbanized area means an 
urbanized area1 as determined by the    
,bureau of the ,census for purposes of  
the most recent decennial census of     
population4  #c4 ,grant process         
simplification  7a7 ,existing grant     
programs ,for each grant program of an  
agency in existence on the date of      
enactment of this ,act under which      
covered local governments are eligible  
to receive grants1 not later than #ahj  
days after the date of enactment of this

 ,act-- 7#a7 the ,director shall-- 7,a7 
conduct a review of the complexity of   
the requirements for a covered local    
government to receive funds under a     
grant under the program2 and  7,b7      
provide to the head of the agency       
instructions on how to simplify such    
requirements2 and  7#b7 the head of the 
agency1 in consultation with the        
,director1 shall simplify such          
requirements4  7b7 ,new grant programs  
,for each grant program of an agency    
established after the date of enactment 
of this ,act under which covered local  
governments are eligible to receive     
grants1 before the application for      
grants under the program becomes        
available-- 7#a7 the ,director shall--  
7,a7 conduct a review of the complexity 
of the proposed requirements for a      
covered local government to receive     
funds under a grant under the program2  
and  7,b7 provide to the head of the    
agency instructions on how to simplify  
such requirements2 and  7#b7 the head of

 each agency1 in consultation with the  
,director1 shall simplify such          
requirements4  7c7 ,checklists  7#a7 ,in
 general ,in accordance with paragraph  
7#b71 the head of each agency shall make
 publicly available a checklist for     
covered local governments with respect  
to each grant program of the agency for 
which covered local governments are     
otherwise eligible that includes each   
requirement for each step of the grant  
process for a grant under the grant     
program4  7#b7 ,deadline ,the head of an
 agency shall make publicly available a 
checklist under paragraph 7#a7-- 7,a7   
with respect to a grant program in      
existence on the date of enactment of   
this ,act1 not later than #ahj days     
after the date of enactment of this     
,act2 and  7,b7 with respect to a grant 
program established after the date of   
enactment of this ,act1 on the date on  
which the application for the grant     
program becomes available4  #d4         
,reporting  7a7 ,one-,time report ,not  

later than #bgj days after the date of  
enactment of this ,act1 the ,director   
shall submit to ,congress a report      
evaluating1 as of the date of submission
 of the report-- 7#a7 the extent to     
which agencies have simplified the      
requirements for covered local          
governments under section #c7;a72 and   
7#b7 the extent to which agencies made  
available checklists under section      
#c7;c77#a7 for each grant program in    
existence on the date of enactment of   
this ,act4  7b7 ,ongoing report ,not    
later than ,april #a of the first year  
after the year during which this ,act is
 enacted1 and every ,april #a           
thereafter1 the ,director shall submit  
to ,congress a report evaluating-- 7#a7 
the amount of technical assistance      
provided to covered local governments   
during the previous fiscal year by      
agencies relating to the preaward1      
award1 implementation1 and closeout     
stages of grants awarded by the         
agencies2 and  7#b7 the amount of funds 

that were awarded by agencies during the
 previous fiscal year to-- 7,a7 covered 
local governments2 and  7,b7 local      
governments that are not covered local  
governments4