State expands grants oversight: pre-award risk checks, public evaluations and authority to suspend grantees

Stacy Christiansen, Deputy Commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Administration, told a joint legislative committee that the Office of Grants Management (OGM) has implemented a slate of changes from the 2023 state government finance bill intended to strengthen oversight of state grants and reduce fraud, waste and abuse.

OGM has rolled out a mandatory pre-award risk assessment process that became effective Jan. 15, 2024; agencies must conduct those assessments for potential grantees and gather financial and background documentation when applicable. Christiansen said OGM has recorded more than 1,500 pre-award risk assessments, 56 instances where agencies requested additional information to resolve concerns, and that “I believe it’s been 3, 2 or 3 grants” that were terminated using the office’s new authority.

The new statutory framework also requires agencies to upload performance evaluations for grants of more than $25,000 issued after April 1, 2024; agencies must post evaluations within 60 days after grant closeout. Christiansen said the evaluation portal will let other agencies and the public view grantee performance information and that “most grant evaluations will be posted in or by the summer of 2025.”

Why it matters: those changes reallocate certain oversight responsibilities from individual agencies to a stronger central policy and compliance office and provide public transparency about grantee performance. The reforms affect state agencies that award grants, nonprofits and private entities that receive them, and Minnesota taxpayers who fund the appropriations.

What OGM can and cannot do

OGM’s statutory authorities, Christiansen said, now include the power to establish and enforce statewide grants management policies, audit grants, require agencies to cooperate with OGM…