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<p class=MsoNormal>As directed by the Office of Management and Budget, each
department/agency has developed a plan for how the agency will operate during a
funding hiatus, lapse, a.k.a. government shutdown. Agencies have
begun to post their plans to their websites and issue notice and guidance to
their awardees. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>COGR sent an email to the membership describing the OMB
guidance to agencies on Thursday. The OMB general guidance is available
at: <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda_default">http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda_default</a>.
The Department of Health & Human Services (home to the National Institutes
of Health) and the National Science Foundation have posted their agency plans
to their websites – HHS <i>Fiscal Year 2011 Contingency Staffing Plan for
Operations in the Absence of Enacted Annual Appropriations </i>at: <a
href="http://www.hhs.gov/about/shutdown/index.html">http://www.hhs.gov/about/shutdown/index.html</a>
; and NSF at: <a
href="http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2011/shutdown11001/shutdown11001.pdf">http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2011/shutdown11001/shutdown11001.pdf</a>.
Additional guidance from NSF for grantees and contractors is attached
here. Other agencies are sending notices to awardees and/or posting
information to their websites.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>What’s common is that unless you hear directly from
the agency, grantees and contractors should continue working on currently
funded projects. For those agencies that use local electronic systems
(not Grants.gov) for applications, submission of progress reports, requests for
payments, etc., those systems generally will not be available during the
shutdown. Thus, Grants.gov will be available but most other, local
systems (including those that link to Grants.gov) will not be available.
Fastlane will not be available. NSF will issue guidance about
submitting applications to programs with deadlines during the shutdown AFTER
the shutdown. Unless you’re using HHS Payment Management
System (PMS) or Treasury’s ASP which are available during the shutdown,
payments to grantees will not be processed or payments made until after the
shutdown. No new grants/contracts will be issued during the
shutdown.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>As you think about what to expect during a shutdown, any
activity – payment, issuing an award, etc. – that requires an
action by a Federal employee – payment approval, issuing a notice of
award, etc. – will not likely occur. Activities that can continue
without an employee’s action can continue. Thus, in terms of
payments, those that are entirely automated or support critical or essential
programs – HHS’s PMS supports a variety of payments made by the
agency including health service centers, Medicare, etc., will remain available.
In terms of reporting, FederalReporting.gov will be available so you can
continue to do your ARRA reporting and the FSRS.gov system for FFATA
subrecipient reporting will likely be available as well. But NSF will not
be issuing payments during a shutdown because the payment system is unavailable.
Nonetheless, your award notice is a promise to pay and payments can be
anticipated when Federal employees return to work. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>We are reviewing other agency plans and these approaches are
consistent. Agencies can stop work on cooperative agreements, contracts
and some grants if the participation of a Federal employee is essential and
that employee is unavailable. Similarly, work can be stopped if the
funding stream allocated to the award is dependent on the passage of the FY
2011 budget. Some institutions have received messages warning them
that stop work orders <b><u>may be issued</u></b>. Such a warning is an
alert. Agencies must provide a stop work order to halt activities on
individual projects or contracts. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>We will continue to monitoring the agencies for any
changes. If the shutdown last for a long period of time, some of the
current plan elements may change. We’ve tried to be cautious
throughout the confusion concerning a possible government shutdown.
Absent official announcements, we have avoided speculating on what would happen
and tried to confirm any information we provide you. We will continue to
maintain that approach. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Carol Blum<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Director, Research Compliance and Administration<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Council on Governmental Relations (COGR)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>1200 New York Ave., NW, Suite 750<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Washington DC 20005<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>202-289-6655, ext. 117<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>cblum@cogr.edu<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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