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Foxx Report for the Week of October 2, 2017 |
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Throughout my career in education, I became well-acquainted with the laborious nature of securing grants. Universities, community colleges and non-profits around the country often depend on the financial support that federal or private grants provide to supplement local and state sources of funding. The research produced by universities can save lives, create new industries and lead to an improved quality of life for Americans and the wider world.
Our federal government awards more than $600 billion in grant funds derived from hardworking taxpayers annually to state and local governments, non-profits, universities and other organizations. Today, the advent of modern technology and the ability to submit applications and reporting documents online should make the process for federal grant reporting much faster and much more transparent. Unfortunately, the archaic way that grant reports are compiled is a hindrance to efficient reporting.
Many grant reports are submitted as static electronic documents such as Microsoft Word or as a pdf. Grantees are forced to enter the same information multiple times and none of the information is aggregated. If families had to fill out tax returns without autofill features like those included in TurboTax, then no family would have time to complete their returns. Filling out the same basic information hundreds of times without the ability to search the document is problematic and inefficient.
Last week, I participated in the DATA Coalitions 2017 Conference and shared with the attendees that I will soon introduce the Grant Reporting Efficiency and Assistance Transparency Act, or GREAT Act.
The GREAT Act will modernize reporting by grant recipients by mandating a standardized data structure for the information that recipients must report to Federal agencies. The bill also creates goals for new standards, including searchability.
When this bill passes, the hours spent by grant recipients to comply with grant reporting will be drastically reduced and the hardworking taxpayers who fund the programs will be able to judge better which ones are being effective. We should be ensuring that grantees have access to the latest technologies so that they can spend time and effort on helping their fellow citizens through the implementation of their programs – not just reporting on them. I will be releasing additional information about the many great aspects of the GREAT Act soon. Please make sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates.
To learn more about the GREAT Act, please click here.
Picture of the Week
Last week, I was honored to meet with Girl Scouts Chief Executive Officer, Sylvia Acevedo. Sylvia runs one of the nation’s largest organizations that seeks to further the advancement of women. The Girl Scouts have played a meaningful and strong force in our country for 105 years. I am sure that under the leadership of Sylvia Acevedo, Girl Scouts will keep girls strong for years to come.
Strengthening America through Tax Reform
Today, I spoke about my support of the Tax Reform framework put forth by the House Committee on Ways and Means. To view my remarks, please click the image below.
Please click the image above to view my remarks.
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Foxx in the News
During the most recent District work period, I had the opportunity to catch up with several publications. Did you miss these articles detailing my work in the North Carolina 5th District? Click the articles below.
Yadkin Ripple - Boonville students receive visits from Congresswoman Virginia Foxx
Mount Airy News - Foxx tours Millennium, receives award
What’s Coming Up
This week, the House will take up legislation to establish the congressional budget for fiscal year 2018. The bill is central to Congress’s goals of funding the government on time, on budget and on a path to sustainability. Furthermore, passing a budget will ultimately allow Congress a real opportunity to enact spending reforms and achieve comprehensive tax reform.
Sincerely,
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