The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) put out a call for comments on their guidance for Grants and Agreements, with a lens toward making grants processes more equitable. HAC submitted comments in support of more proactive geographic equity in the federal grants process. In addition to recognizing capacity building and access to capital as two essential equity issues in rural places, HAC’s comments focused on the recommendations below.

• Instituting a Rural Impact Analysis for New Regulations
• Investing in Capacity Building and Rural Intermediaries
• Eliminating, Reducing or Modifying Cost-sharing and Matching Requirements that Disparately Impact Rural Communities
• Streamlining and Increasing Uniformity in Applications
• Including or Increasing Administrative and Predevelopment Costs as Eligible Activities in Rural Places
• Recognizing the Rural Challenges in Metrics and Data Reporting

HAC Comments on OMB Guidance on Grants and Agreements 12.04.23