Government Shutdown Ramifications for Funding Opportunities Prepared Oct 8, 2013
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Table of Contents OVERVIEW ….. 3 GRANTS.GOV ….. 3 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ..… 3 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ….. 4 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES ….. 4 DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR AND JUSTICE AND NATIONAL ENDOWMENTS FOR THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES ….. 4 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ….. 4 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ….. 5 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ….. 5 UNOFFICIAL INSIGHTS ….. 5
Contributing Authors: Connie Souder Senior Grants Research Associate, Hanover Research csouder@hanoverresearch.com Paul Tuttle Managing Grants Consultant, Hanover Research ptuttle@hanoverresearch.com Chad Ross Managing Content Director, Hanover Research cross@hanoveresearch.com Biographies available at http://www.hanoverresearch.com/grants-consultant-biographies
Government Shutdown Ramifications for Funding Opportunities October 8, 2013
At midnight on September 30, 2013, the Federal Government shut down due to a lapse in funding appropriations. This memo provides an overview of the impact of the shutdown on funding opportunities at various federal agencies.
OVERVIEW For the most part, agencies are continuing only “excepted activities” that do not rely on annual appropriations and that impact the safety of human life, the protection of property, and national security. Many agency websites are up and running but are not being updated; however, a small handful of agency websites are completely unavailable. In general, grant-related activities are not taking place during the shutdown, and agencies will issue updates regarding deadlines that occurred during the shutdown when they resume normal operations. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has posted the contingency plans of each agency and USA.gov provides additional information about the shutdown. GRANTS.GOV Grants.gov will remain in operation throughout the shutdown, but with reduced staffing. The Grants.gov Contract Center is available to provide assistance to callers. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), managing partner, will provide updates as necessary. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION National Science Foundation (NSF) websites and business applications—including NSF.gov, FastLane, and Research.gov—will be unavailable until further notice. NSF will not be available to answer emails or phone calls during the shutdown; the agency will issue follow-up guidance as necessary upon resumption of normal operations. Once normal operations resume, NSF will issue guidance regarding any funding opportunities that have a deadline or target date that occurred during the government shutdown. This information will be disseminated via a FastLane Advisory and other electronic methods. FastLane proposal preparation and submission are unavailable. Although Grants.gov is up and running, since FastLane is not, NSF proposals will not be downloaded from Grants.gov. Therefore, no proposals will be checked for compliance until normal operations resume. All grant-related operations will stop until the shutdown ends. This means that: No new funding opportunities (program descriptions, announcements or solicitations) will be issued; Proposals will not be reviewed or processed; No new Continuing Grant Increments (CGIs) (whether electronically released upon Program Officer acceptance of the Annual Project Report or approved by a Grants and Agreements Officer) will be awarded; and No-cost extensions (including awardee-approved and NSF-approved) can not be submitted or processed. For additional details, visit the NSF announcement.
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Government Shutdown Ramifications for Funding Opportunities October 8, 2013
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Per the U.S. Department of Education’s website, During the shutdown, information at ED.gov may not be up to date, transactions submitted via ED.gov might not be processed; and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.1 However, “G5, the Department’s Grants Management system, is up and running throughout this period, and grantees may continue to make drawdown requests.”2 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES During the shutdown, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will only continue activities that do not rely on annual appropriations and that involve the safety of human life and the protection of property. Activities that will continue include Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) -funded Community Health Centers and the Maternal Infant and Child Home Visiting Program. All HHS agency websites—including the National Institutes for Health, Administration for Children and Families, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Resources and Services Administration, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality—are available but indicate that information on the website may not be updated, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and staff may not be available to respond to inquiries. The National Institutes of Health specifically noted that “applicants are strongly encouraged not to submit paper or electronic grant applications to NIH during the period of the lapse,”3 and that updates to application deadlines that occurred during the lapse will be made when normal operations resume. Adjustments to application submission dates that occurred during the funding lapse will be announced once operations resume. Grants.gov is open and accepting applications; however, these applications will not be reviewed during the lapse, and applicants are strongly advised to wait until updates are announced.4 DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR AND JUSTICE AND NATIONAL ENDOWMENTS FOR THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES These agencies have all posted the same blanket statement indicating that websites will not be monitored or updated, transactions submitted via the websites will not be processed, and staff will not be available to respond to inquiries. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Essential services will continue, but the following services will not be available during the shutdown: Assistance and support to recipients of grant funding and Services and activities provided by the Economic Development Administration, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Economics and Statistics Administration, Minority Business Development Agency, and Bureau of the Census. 1http://www2.ed.gov/about/furlough2013/index.html 2Ibid. 3http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not-od-13-126.html 4Ibid.
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Government Shutdown Ramifications for Funding Opportunities October 8, 2013
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Various entity operations will depend on remaining balances and whether or not they are supported by single-year appropriations. The Department has published a contingency plan stating that it will not “enter into any new grants or cooperative agreements during the period of a lapse in appropriations.” There are no other details about grant programs, but it is extremely likely that, as with other agencies, State will post updates regarding each program when it resumes normal operations.5 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE The Department of Defense (DoD) will continue only those operations necessary for the protection of life, property, and national security.6 Website updates will be limited for all DoD websites, including those of the Navy, Army, and Air Force research offices. The respective research offices do not indicate any specifics resulting from the shutdown beyond references to the DoD guidance, but, since these research offices fall under the overarching authority of the DoD, their funding availability follows that of the DoD. UNOFFICIAL INSIGHTS In addition to reviewing the official agency statements regarding the shutdown, Hanover reviewed some unofficial speculations as to how the shutdown may impact funding. SCIENCE According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, since NIH’s applications were due on October 5th with awards expected to be made in December or January, a short shutdown would not inhibit the next round of awards. 7Online forums including academic faculty who rely on these funds, were less optimistic in their speculations. Some cited unofficial word from NSF and NIH program officers that new proposals may not be reviewed at all in FY2014. Others pointed out that the three-week shutdown in 1995-96 delayed funding by six to eight months.8 EDUCATION During a short shutdown of a week or so, federal student aid and loans should not be impacted, and colleges should be able to continue federally funded work. However, a longer shutdown could severely impact colleges that rely on federal funds to support programs. Further, current delays appear likely to lead to delays in awarding future grants, as the U.S. Department of Education returns to a growing backlog of work.9 CONCLUSION The length of the shutdown will play a large role in determining the impact on funding opportunities, with a longer shutdown creating a larger backlog of work. This domino effect will impact both the work that was planned to occur during the shutdown and future work. All agencies will post updates as soon as operations return to normal. 5http://www.state.gov/m/rls/2013/214880.htm 6http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2013/0913_govtshutdown/ 7Field,
K., Baksen, P., and Howard, J. “How a Government Shutdown Would Affect Academe.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 30, 2013. http://chronicle.com/article/How-a-Government-Shutdown/141987/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_ medium=en 8“Scientists! Please discuss how the government shutdown will affect you and your work.” Ask Science, Reddit. http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1nikjj/scientists_please_discuss_how_the_government/ 9Field, K. Op.cit.
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