ARRA and You: Tips for the Florida SUS in Tracking Funding Opportunities
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) is the largest combined spending and tax bill in American history, with a total of $787 billion available through spending and tax cuts. There’s something for everyone in ARRA—it impacts a wide range of businesses and industries from healthcare to energy to education and transportation. With so many organizations interested in and eligible for this funding, and with so much happening so fast, Florida's university personnel will want to stay abreast of funding announcements.
This brief is intended to help the SUS stay ahead of the curve on the myriad funding opportunities available to you through ARRA. To the extent possible, Cavarocchi Ruscio Dennis Associates (CRD) will provide the SUS with highlights on what’s available, and when. Nevertheless, we encourage you to be proactive and register for RSS feeds and e-mail updates through Department and agency ARRA-related Web sites, where available.
Step 1: Visit Federal Funding Sites
All information about new ARRA-related grant, contract, and loan opportunities will be available through three main sources:
- Grants.gov for competitive grant opportunities
- FedBizOpps.gov for federal contracting opportunities
- Govloans.gov for loan opportunities
These three sites all offer free e-mail alerts, and we urge you to register for subscriptions so when new federal funding opportunities become available—recovery-related or otherwise—you will receive a notification directly. Doing so will ensure you are among the first to know about new grants, contacts, and loans.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has directed that all ARRA-related grants, contracts, and loans be indicated as such with unique identifiers and include “recovery” in the title of the funding opportunity. This will help applicants differentiate between recovery and non-recovery funding opportunities on these sites and in e-mail alerts.
Step 2: Visit Department and Agency Recovery Sites
ARRA requires that Departments receiving recovery funds create ARRA-related Web sites, and that links to these sites be included on Recovery.gov, the official Web site of ARRA (see appendix for selected sites). In addition, OMB has urged all agencies receiving ARRA funding to create their own recovery Web sites. These sites include information about funding opportunities, weekly reports on ARRA implementation, and general information and announcements about the program. We urge you to sign up for Department and agency specific e-mail alerts through these Web sites, where available.
For a full list of Departments’ recovery sites, please visit http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/agencies. Note that some Departments and agencies are in the process of developing Web sites. If you do not see them listed on Recovery.gov or in the appendix, we urge you to visit the Department and agency homepages regularly.
Step 3: Visit Recovery.gov
Recovery.gov is the official Web site of ARRA, providing the public with the ability to monitor the status of recovery-related activities. The principal goals of Recovery.gov are:
- Education: Explain ARRA;
- Transparency: Show how, when, and where the money is spent;
- Accountability: Provide data that will allow citizens to evaluate the Act’s progress and provide feedback.
Recovery.gov features macro-level projections for how, when, and where the funds will be spent; it does not provide information on specific funding opportunities available through various Departments and agencies. However, Recovery.gov does have links to the aforementioned federal funding Web sites, as well as links to the Department and agency-specific recovery Web pages.
As money starts to flow out through the Departments and agencies, far more data will become available on Recovery.gov regarding the federal grant and contract awards, as well as formula grant allocations. Federal agencies are required to provide data to Recovery.gov on how they are using the money, and eventually, recipients of federal funding will provide quarterly reports on how they are using their federal funds. All of this information will be publicly available and searchable on Recovery.gov.
Step 4: Visit State Recovery Sites
Florida has established its Web page that explains how Recovery Act funds are being allocated. It can be found at http://flarecovery.com/.
Appendix: Selected Recovery-Related Web Sites
For a complete list of Departments’ recovery sites, visit http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/agencies.
| Department/Agency (where available) | Recovery Web Site |
|---|---|
| Agriculture (USDA) | http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/?navid=USDA_ARRA |
| Commerce (DOC) | http://www.commerce.gov/Recovery/ |
| - National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | http://www.nist.gov/recovery/ |
| - National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) | No Site |
| Defense (DOD) | http://www.defenselink.mil/recovery/ |
| Education (ED) | http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/index.html |
| Energy (DOE) | http://www.energy.gov/recovery/ |
| Health and Human Services (HHS) | http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/ |
| - Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (ARHQ) | No Site |
| - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | No Site |
| - Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) | www.hrsa.gov (recovery on homepage) |
| - National Institutes of Health (NIH) | http://www.nih.gov/recovery/ |
| - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) | No Site |
| Homeland Security (DHS) | http://www.dhs.gov/xopnbiz/recovery.shtm |
| Labor (DOL) | http://www.dol.gov/recovery/ |
| Interior (DOI) | http://www.doi.gov/recovery/ |
| Transportation (DOT) | http://www.dot.gov/recovery/ |
| Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | http://www.epa.gov/recovery/ |
| General Services Administration (GSA) | http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentType=GSA_OVERVIEW&contentId=25761 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) | http://www.nasa.gov/recovery/ |
| National Science Foundation | http://www.nsf.gov/recovery/ |
