American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: A Snapshot

1
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act A Snapshot

• Presented by
• Tracy McLaughlin
• Kyle B. McQuaid

2
ARRA Facts

• Signed into law on February 17, 2009
• Total Funding 787B
• Goals
• Create jobs
• Jumpstart economic growth
• Provide direct tax relief
• Unprecedented accountability and transparency

3
ARRA Strategy

• Create or save 3.5 million jobs by providing
  direct tax relief
• Invest 150 billion in infrastructure projects
• Double renewable energy generating capacity over
  a three year period
• Provide funds to state and local governments to
  support health and educational programs

4
Ensuring Accountability and Transparency

• Funding for the Watchdogs
• Governor Certifications
• Quarterly Reporting

5
Ensuring Accountability and Transparency

• Objectives for federal agencies
• ARRA funds awarded and distributed in a prompt,
  fair, and reasonable manner
• Recipients and uses of all ARRA funds are
  transparent to the public
• ARRA funds are used for authorized purposes only

6
Ensuring Accountability and Transparency

• Funded projects must
• Avoid unnecessary delays and cost overruns
• Meet specific goals and targets, and contribute
  to improved performance on broad economic
  indicators
• 50 of funds must be initiated no later than 120
  days after date of enactment

7
ARRA Fund Limits

• ARRA funds may not be used for casinos or other
  gambling establishments, aquariums, zoos, golf
  courses, or swimming pools
• Buy-American all construction materials (iron,
  steel, and manufactured goods) must be produced
  in the U.S.
• All wages cannot be lower than those prevailing
  on projects of a character similar in the locality

8
ARRA Recipients

• Any recipient that has received an award must
  report It does not matter if you have not
  received or spent any funds
• Prime Recipient
• Receives funds directly from a federal agency
• Must ensure that their own and sub-recipient data
  is accurate and complete
• Perform data quality reviews for significant
  reporting errors and/or omissions
• Sub-Recipient
• Receives funds from a prime recipient
• Must ensure that their own data is accurate and
  complete
• Perform data quality reviews for significant
  reporting errors and/or omissions

9
ARRA Reporting

• Data Quality
• Accurate, complete, and timely
• Avoid
• Material omissions ( of project completed,
  estimated number of jobs)
• Significant report errors (reported values show a
  decrease from a prior reporting period)
• Review process Conduct a data quality review
• Federal agency could terminate the funding and/or
  initiation of suspension and debarment proceedings

10
ARRA Reporting Requirements

• Federal agency code
• Program source (TAS)
• DUNS number should match DUNS number on the
  award/contract
• CFDA number
• Final report
• Award type, date, description, and amount
• Project and Grant period start and end date
• Project description and status
• Jobs created/retained description and number
• Federal expenditure
• Total federal ARRA, federal non-ARRA and
  non-federal share expenditures

11
ARRA Reporting Phases and Timeline

• Draft 110 days
• Input reporting data
• Initial Submission 11-21 days
• Review and make changes
• Final submission 22 29 days
• Federal agency reviews comments
• Publish 30 days
• Recipient reports available on recovery.gov

12
ARRA Reporting Jobs

• Jobs Created
• A new position created and filled or an existing
  position that is filled as a result of ARRA
  funding
• Jobs Retained
• An existing position that would not have been
  continued to be filled had it not been for the
  ARRA funding
• A job cannot be counted as both
• Indirect support (e.g., clerical/admin staff)
  cannot be counted

13
ARRA Reporting Jobs

• Must report all FTE created or retained
• Total hours worked in jobs divided by the number
  of hours in a full-time schedule
• Reported in two separate fields (number and
  description)
• Recipients who do not perform their own work must
  get job creation estimates from the entity
  performing the work
• Federal agencies must provide guidance for the
  required sampling parameters

14
ARRA Reporting Jobs

• Reported cumulatively each quarter

15
Auditing ARRA

• All ARRA programs are considered high risk due to
  the inherent risk with the new transparency and
  accountability requirements
• Buy-American
• Davis-Bacon Act
• Submission of weekly certified payrolls
• Prevailing wage rate clauses included
• ARRA funds are accounted for separately on the
  Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA)
  and Data Collection Form (SF-SAC)
• The prefix ARRA- must be included in
  identifying the Federal program

16
Auditing ARRA

• Revenue should be coded to object 4500
• Allocation should be made to MO, UCO SCA based
  on normal state equalization distribution

17
Auditing ARRA-Reqd Program Codes

• Required sub-program codes
• 199Regular Education-SFSF
• 261English Language Learners Incremental
  Costs-SFSF
• 266English Language Learners Compensatory
  Instruction-SFSF
• 271Vocational and Technological Education-SFSF
• 299Special Education Other-SFSF (disability and
  other categories)
• 439Pupil Transportation-English Language
  Learners Compensatory Instruction-SFSF
• 479Pupil Transportation-Vocational and
  Technological Education-SFSF
• 499Pupil Transportation Other-SFSF
• 699Other Instructional Programs-SFSF

18
Lets review
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Question 1

• If a previously nonexistent position of plant
  receptionist occurs as a result of ARRA funds, it
  is counted as a job created.
• TRUE or FALSE
• Why?
• Support jobs are not counted as Jobs
  Created/Retained

20
Question 2

• 50 of funds must be initiated no later than 120
  days after date of enactment
• TRUE or FALSE

21
Question 3

• Federal agency reviews and comments occurs
  during the Initial Submission phase
• TRUE or FALSE

22
Question 4

• Federal agency can not terminate the funding
  and/or initiate suspension and debarment
  proceedings as repercussion if correct reporting
  procedures are not followed
• TRUE or FALSE
• They can!

23
Question 5

• If a recipient has not spent any of the funds
  awarded to them, they are not required to report.
• TRUE or FALSE
• Any recipient that has been awarded must report

24
Thank you for attending.Presented byTracy
McLaughlinKyle McQuaid602-277-9449 ext.
307tracym_at_heinfeldmeech.com602-277-9449 ext.
304kylem_at_heinfeldmeech.comT