SECOND REGULAR SESSION
93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES SCHAAF (Sponsor), FISHER, MOORE, PAGE AND CUNNINGHAM (86) (Co-sponsors).
Pre-filed December 8, 2005 and copies ordered printed.
STEPHEN S. DAVIS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapter 28, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to the Missouri catalog of assistance programs, with sunset provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 28, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 28.750, to read as follows:
28.750. 1. The office of administration shall develop the "Missouri Catalog of Assistance Programs", which shall serve as the state's single repository of information for public assistance programs and shall be available in an electronic format for access over the Internet. The electronic catalog shall include an index and search function similar to the catalog of federal domestic assistance maintained by the federal government. The development of the catalog shall have the following purposes:
(1) Improve the effectiveness and performance of state programs;
(2) Simplify state assistance identification and reduce state government costs by eliminating the need for postage currently expended sending out grant announcements and multiple state Internet websites and other information-dissemination programs;
(3) Improve the delivery of services to the public; and
(4) Facilitate greater coordination across state agencies responsible for delivering such services by coordinating funding announcements in a single notice of funding availability section of the catalog.
2. There is hereby established the "Catalog of State Assistance Programs Task Team" to be comprised of one person from each state agency. The commissioner of the office of administration, or the commissioner's designee, will chair the task team. The team's mission shall be to:
(1) Facilitate information gathering for the development of the catalog; and
(2) Submit a report to the members of the general assembly, the governor, and the chief justice of the Missouri supreme court that shall propose a strategic plan to standardize the application of state assistance across all state agencies and allows for electronic submission of applications under one automated grant application system. Implementation of the strategic plan pursuant to this subdivision shall be subject to appropriations for such purposes.
All state agencies that provide assistance described in section 28.752 shall participate in the development and ongoing maintenance of the catalog.
3. The catalog shall include a notice of funding availability. All state agencies shall provide an electronic copy of the agency's program request for proposal or application packets to the office of administration to be electronically posted in the catalog. The state and each state agency shall also add a link to their Internet web homepage called "Grants and Assistance Programs" that shall link to the Missouri catalog of assistance programs website created in this section. Beginning July 1, 2008, for projects that have specific funding periods, state agencies shall provide the office of administration with electronic copies of their application packets no later than sixty days prior to any deadlines for application for assistance. The catalog of state assistance shall include such application packets under the notice of funding availability section of the catalog. Programs shall be listed in the notice of funding availability section of the catalog for at least forty-five days prior to application deadlines. Programs that continually take applications shall not be listed in such section of the catalog.
4. The catalog shall be developed and operational by June 30, 2007, with the notice of funding availability section of the catalog to be operational by June 30, 2008.
5. For each program in the catalog, the following information shall be provided whenever possible:
(1) Agency administering assistance;
(2) Statutory or budgetary authorization for the program;
(3) Assistance programs goals and objectives;
(4) Types of assistance available;
(5) Uses and restrictions;
(6) Eligibility requirements;
(7) Summary of the application and award process;
(8) Assistance considerations such as:
(a) Project time limitations; and
(b) Matching funds required;
(9) Award requirements;
(10) Financial information on the program;
(11) Summary of program accomplishments;
(12) Informational contacts;
(13) Examples of funded projects; and
(14) Criteria for selection of proposals.
If the program is a federal program administered by a state agency, the Missouri catalog of assistance programs shall include the program's Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number and an electronic link to that program's information in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.
6. The office of administration shall assign a unique identifying number to each program listed in the Missouri catalog of state assistance programs. For federal assistance programs administered by a state agency, the number shall include the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number.
7. There is hereby established in the state treasury the "Missouri Catalog of State Assistance Programs Resources Fund", which shall be administered by the office of administration. A cost allocation program shall be developed to charge the costs of the program in this section to the various state agencies that have programs in the catalog. Costs shall be assessed against an agency based upon the percentage of funds that agency represents in the catalog during each state fiscal year unless an agency can provide documentation to the office of administration that a state or federal law, rule, or regulation prohibits administrative costs for state administering agencies. Costs allocated to all state agencies combined shall be based upon costs of the program as determined by the office of administration. The office of administration shall create an interagency billing process to initiate such administrative transfers from each state agency in June of each year that shall be deposited into the fund at the beginning of each fiscal year, but shall not exceed one-quarter of one percent of any individual program during that fiscal year. If a new grant program is initiated in the middle of the fiscal year as a result of federal pass-through funds becoming available for application through a state agency, the state agency shall notify the office of administration, and an administrative billing of no more than one-quarter of one percent may be applied and initiated by the office of administration to such program. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33.080, RSMo, to the contrary, moneys in the fund shall not revert to the credit of the general revenue fund at the end of the biennium. The state treasurer shall invest moneys in the fund in the same manner as other funds are invested. Any interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be credited to the fund.
8. For purposes of this section, unless the context expressly indicates otherwise, the following types of state programs shall be included in the catalog, defined as follows:
(1) "Advisory services and counseling", programs that provide state specialists to consult, advise, or counsel communities or individuals to include conferences, workshops, or personal contacts, and may involve the use of published information, but only in a secondary capacity;
(2) "Direct loans", financial assistance provided through the lending of state moneys for a specific period of time with a reasonable expectation of repayment, including any tax credit available in this state. Such loans may or may not require the payment of interest;
(3) "Direct payments for specified use", financial assistance from the state government provided directly to individuals, private firms, and other private institutions to encourage or subsidize a particular activity by conditioning the receipt of the assistance on a particular performance by the recipient, but does not include solicited contracts for the procurement of goods and services for the state government;
(4) "Direct payments with unrestricted use", financial assistance from the state government provided directly to beneficiaries who satisfy state eligibility requirements with no restrictions being imposed on the recipient as to how the money is spent and includes payments to compensatory programs;
(5) "Dissemination of technical information", programs that provide for the publication and distribution of information or data of a specialized or technical nature frequently through the clearinghouse or libraries, and does not include conventional public information services designed for general public consumption;
(6) "Federal grants administered by state agencies", all federal grant programs that are administered by a state agency specifically for the purpose of allocating funds to other state agencies, local governments, not-for-profit and individual applicants, but does not include general grants received by state agencies from the federal government and only includes those grants for which the state agency is administering the application and award process;
(7) "Formula grants", allocations of money to governmental entities or their subdivisions in accordance with distribution formulas prescribed by law or administrative regulation for activities of a continuing nature not confined to a specific project;
(8) "Guaranteed or insured loans", programs in which the state government makes an arrangement to identify a lender against part or all of any defaults by those persons responsible for repayment of loans;
(9) "Insurance", financial assistance provided to assure reimbursement for losses sustained under specified conditions. Coverage may be provided directly by the state government or through private carriers and may or may not involve the payment of premiums;
(10) "Investigation of complaints", state administrative agency activities that are initiated in response to requests, either formal or informal, to examine or investigate claims of violations of state statutes, policies, or procedure. The origination of such claims shall come from outside state government;
(11) "Project grants", the funding for fixed or known periods of specific projects. Project grants may include fellowships, scholarships, research grants, training grants, traineeships, experimental and demonstration grants, evaluation grants, planning grants, technical assistance grants, survey grants, and construction grants;
(12) "Provision of specialized services", programs that provide state personnel directly to perform certain tasks for the benefit of communities or individuals. Such services may be performed in conjunction with nonstate personnel, but shall involve more than consultation, advice, or counseling;
(13) "Sale, exchange, or donation of property and goods", programs that provide for the sale, exchange, or donation of state real property, personal property, commodities, and other goods, including land, buildings, equipment, food, and drugs, but does not include the loan of, use of, or access to state facilities or property; and
(14) "Training", programs that provide instructional activities conducted directly by a state agency for individuals not employed by the state government.
9. Pursuant to section 23.253, RSMo, of the Missouri Sunset Act:
(1) The provisions of the new program authorized under this section shall automatically sunset six years after the effective date of this section unless reauthorized by an act of the general assembly; and
(2) If such program is reauthorized, the program authorized under this section shall automatically sunset twelve years after the effective date of the reauthorization of this section; and
(3) This section shall terminate on September first of the calendar year immediately following the calendar year in which the program authorized under this section is sunset.
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