,i #aaith ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #faif ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,november #bj1 #bjbe,ms4 ,jacobs 7for herself and ,mrs4 ,kim7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to authorize and encourage the ,united ,states to pursue a model of locally led development and humanitarian response and expand engagement with local actors and increase its local partner base4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,locally ,led ,development and ,humanitarian ,response ,act4 #b4 ,purpose ,the purpose of this ,act is to encourage the ,united ,states to pursue a model of locally led development and humanitarian response and expand engagement and partnership with local actors4 #c4 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress that-- 7#a7 locally led development and humanitarian response is linked to more efficient and sustainable development and humanitarian outcomes1 and is vital to building long-term self-reliance2 7#b7 over multiple ,administrations1 the ,united ,states ,government has sought to achieve greater development outcomes through stronger local partnerships1 including through ,country ,ownership1 ,the ,journey to ,self-,reliance1 and ,locally ,led ,development2 7#c7 the relevant foreign assistance agency should increase the proportion of direct funding to local entities1 including by increasing the amount of development and humanitarian assistance to such entities2 7#d7 the relevant foreign assistance agency should ensure its programming enables local communities to exercise leadership over priorities1 project design1 implementation1 and measuring and evaluating results of such programs2 7#e7 the relevant foreign assistance agency should ensure most awards1 requests for proposals1 and requests for applications outline expectations for implementers to elevate local leadership and hold implementers to account for elevating local leadership2 7#f7 working with local partners requires more time1 staffing1 and flexibility of resources than traditional partners1 including extended availability of funds and additional staff resources2 and 7#g7 increased flexibility is critical to respond to local priorities and leverage local capacities1 including with respect to staffing1 availability of funds1 program design1 and acquisition and assistance processes1 among other areas4 #d4 ,working with local partners 7a7 ,in general ,to the extent feasible and appropriate1 the head of the relevant foreign assistance agency should localize the development and humanitarian assistance partner base by considering-- 7#a7 supporting and funding existing effective local projects and initiatives2 7#b7 simplifying and increasing access to ,united ,states foreign assistance resources for local partners in humanitarian and development sectors1 including local partners who have relations1 agency1 or power structures in place that have produced1 or can produce1 strong trust1 accountability1 and legitimacy in the communities or networks such partners work in2 7#c7 setting realistic goals and timelines for sunsetting assistance and adhering to existing agreement totals and timelines to incentivize self-reliance and encourage exit plans with appropriate notice2 7#d7 exploring offering matching grants and in-kind contributions to ensure that ,united ,states ,government investments in local partners are helping generate new resources of their own from other donors2 7#e7 exploring government-to-government partnerships with adequate guardrails and oversight1 in consultation with local civil society1 with select countries where feasible and practical to enhance foreign governments' ability to deliver good governance1 service delivery1 and public goods that benefit local communities2 7#f7 exploring other types of funding modalities and types of partnerships with local and national actors1 including support for pooled funding mechanisms and unsolicited projects2 7#g7 diversifying award types to streamline performance requirements and working with the ,office of ,management and ,budget to address threshold constraints that pose a barrier to effectively supporting local partners2 7#h7 ensuring staff of the relevant foreign assistance agency is able and encouraged to conduct regular consultation with local partners in local languages of the host countries relating to policies and programs1 including making available solicitations for acquisitions and assistance and accepting submissions in local languages1 video format1 or verbal presentations1 including by-- 7,a7 investing in translation services2 7,b7 hosting workshop-based engagements2 and 7,c7 advertising solicitations in local trade publications1 local media including newspapers and radio1 local community centers1 and local online forums2 7#i7 allowing and promoting multi-year1 flexible1 tiered and milestone-based funding for new programs and to bring successful programs to scale2 7#aj7 utilizing other transaction authority through innovation incentive awards for local and national actors2 7#aa7 supporting consistent and unimpeded access to full cost recovery for local partners implementing ,united ,states foreign assistance activities2 7#ab7 undertaking outreach campaigns and engaging with local actors1 formally and informally1 to raise awareness about opportunities1 as well as how to apply for and manage awards in compliance with applicable ,federal regulations and the relevant foreign assistance agency policies1 and ensuring such engagement is accessible to all entities1 including unregistered and informal organizations2 7#ac7 strengthening oversight of capacity strengthening components of awards to ensure ,united ,states and international awardees are making good-faith efforts to strengthen local organizations' capacities1 including independent and external evaluations to evaluate the mentorship process and regular feedback loops2 7#ad7 ensuring there are sufficient acquisition and assistance personnel2 7#ae7 soliciting feedback on and updating1 as necessary1 performance evaluation criteria to create greater workforce incentives for the relevant foreign assistance agency personnel to champion locally led development2 7#af7 addressing internal delays and recipient organization issues that result in the required extension of provisional ,negotiated ,indirect ,cost ,rates 7,n,i,c,r,as72 7#ag7 conducting seminars and providing documentation in local languages on ,,nicra1 the de minimis indirect cost rate1 and other options for indirect cost recovery relevant to the award type2 and 7#ah7 ensuring that acquisition and assistance personnel communicate to awardees who do not submit for a ,,nicra that they are eligible for the de minimis indirect cost rate4 #e4 ,institutionalization of actions described in section #d ,not later than #ahj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the head of the relevant foreign assistance agency shall initiate policy actions1 including rulemaking if necessary1 to institutionalize the actions described in section #d to the extent appropriate and feasible within all relevant foreign assistance agency internal rules and regulations1 including the ,foreign ,affairs ,manual1 the ,foreign ,affairs ,handbook1 and the ,department of ,state ,acquisition ,regulation1 as well as other relevant strategies and policies4 #f4 ,authority to accept applications1 proposals1 and contracting agreements in local languages and local language support 7a7 ,in general ,notwithstanding any other provision of law1 the relevant foreign assistance agency is authorized to accept applications or proposals in languages other than ,english if such acceptance eases the burden of a local actor working with such agency and such agency is able to effectively evaluate such applications or proposals4 7b7 ,local language support 7#a7 ,in general ,the head of the relevant foreign assistance agency shall conduct an assessment of options to enable such agency to utilize local languages to support local partners with award solicitations1 proposals and applications1 evaluations1 management1 close out1 and other types of partnerships1 including advising local partners on applicable ,united ,states regulations and the relevant foreign assistance agency policies and local country rules and regulations common in such activities4 7#b7 ,report ,not later than #a year after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the head of the relevant foreign assistance agency shall submit to ,congress a report on the assessment described in this subsection4 #g4 ,modifications relating to the code of ,federal regulations and other requirements 7a7 ,increase in the de minimis indirect cost ,the head of the relevant foreign assistance agency is authorized to-- 7#a7 increase the de minimis indirect cost rate provided for in section #bjj4dad of title #b1 ,code of ,federal ,regulations1 or any successor regulations1 by #e percentage points for local partners receiving assistance awards from the agency2 and 7#b7 establish a de minimis indirect cost rate at the same rate provided for in paragraph 7#a7 for acquisitions awarded under title #dh of the ,code of ,federal ,regulations to local partners1 and to increase this threshold further should subsequent ,office of ,management and ,budget regulations recommend doing so4 7b7 ,exemption for local entities ,the head of the relevant foreign assistance agency is authorized to exempt local partners1 as needed1 from the reporting requirements of the ,federal ,funding ,accountability and ,transparency ,act of #bjjf 7#ca ,u4,s4,c4 #fajf note2 ,public ,law #aji-bhb7 to allow for a #ahj-;day delay in obtaining a unique entity identifier and registration in the ,system for ,award ,management4 ,this delay shall be no later than #cj days prior to the end of the award's period of performance4 7c7 ,local competition authority ,notwithstanding any other provision of law1 the head of the relevant foreign assistance agency 7or their designees7 may award contracts and other acquisition instruments in which competition is limited to local entities if doing so would result in cost savings1 strengthen local capacity1 or enable the agency to deliver programs or activities more sustainably or quickly than if competition were not so limited4 ,such authority may not be used to make acquisition awards in excess of #be1jjj1jjj and shall not exceed more than #aj percent of the amounts appropriated to the relevant foreign assistance agency each fiscal year4 7d7 ,use of national or international generally accepted accounting principles ,the head of the relevant foreign assistance agency1 in consultation with the ,administrator of the ,general ,services ,administration1 the ,secretary of ,defense1 and the ,administrator of the ,national ,aeronautics and ,space ,administration1 is authorized to allow foreign entities to use national or international generally accepted accounting principles instead of ,united ,states ,generally ,accepted ,accounting ,principles 7,,gaap7 for contracts or grants awarded under the chapter #g of title #dh1 ,code of ,federal ,regulations or chapter #g of title #b1 ,code of ,federal ,regulations4 #h4 ,review of locally-led development in public international organizations ,not later than #a year after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the head of the relevant foreign assistance agency shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a review of public international organizations' support for locally-led development1 to include the following elements3 7#a7 ,an assessment of how such organizations' approaches and financing structures support locally-led development and humanitarian response4 7#b7 ,an action plan for how the ,united ,states will use its position in such organizations to encourage greater focus on locally-led approaches4 #i4 ,annual report ,not later than #a year after the end of the first fiscal year following the date of the enactment of this ,act1 and annually thereafter1 the head of the relevant foreign assistance agency shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and publish on the agency's website a report on the agency's progress to advance locally led development and humanitarian response1 to include the following elements3 7#a7 ,the amount of funding implemented directly and indirectly by local partners1 including to local and national nonprofit organizations1 local and national governments1 and local and national private sector entities1 in the previous fiscal year1 including all development and humanitarian assistance programs4 7#b7 ,an assessment of how the agency is enabling more local leadership of foreign assistance programs1 including recipients of direct funding1 subrecipients and subcontractors to an international implementing partner1 participants in an agency program1 or members of a community affected by such programming4 7#c7 ,an assessment of how the relevant foreign assistance agency is using new authorities granted in sections #f and #g and an assessment of the impact of these authorities on such agency's ability to work with local partners and communities4 7#d7 ,an assessment of how many organizations with a ,negotiated ,indirect ,cost ,rate 7,,nicra7 cognizant to the relevant foreign assistance agency are utilizing provisional ,n,i,c,r,as for over #dh months without a final ,,nicra and steps that such agency can take to reduce the extension of provisional ,n,i,c,r,as beyond #ab months4 #aj4 ,report on contracting officers ,not later than #ahj days after the enactment of this ,act1 the head of the relevant foreign assistance agency shall provide a report to the appropriate congressional committees on the recruitment and retention of contracting officers and grant officers at such agency and recommendations to improve contracting_/agreement officer recruitment and retention4 #aa4 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,appropriate congressional committees ,the term appropriate congressional committees means-- 7,a7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs and the ,committee on ,appropriations of the ,house of ,representatives2 and 7,b7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations and the ,committee on ,appropriations of the ,senate4 7#b7 ,local partner ,the term local partner means-- 7,a7 an individual who is a citizen or lawfully admitted permanent resident of and have his or her principal place of business in the country or region receiving ,united ,states foreign assistance with which the individual is or may become involved2 7,b7 a sole proprietorship that is owned by such an individual that meets the requirements of subparagraph 7,a72 or 7,c7 an entity that-- 7i7 is incorporated or legally organized under the laws of1 and have its principal place of business in1 the country served by the program with which the entity is involved or in a country within the same region as the program with which the entity is involved2 7ii7 determines its own autonomous leadership and governance structures1 sets its own strategic direction1 priorities1 and programmatic focus1 and makes independent financial decisions separately from an international organization2 7iii7 if it has a ,board of ,directors1 has #ea percent or more board directors who are citizens or lawfully permanent residents of such country or a country within the same region2 and 7iv7 if it is a corporation1 is #ge percent beneficially owned at the time of application by individuals who are citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents of that same country4 7#c7 ,relevant foreign assistance agency ,the term relevant foreign assistance agency means the department or agency designated as primarily responsible for implementing the ,united ,states foreign assistance under part ,i of the ,foreign ,assistance ,act of #aifa4