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House approves substitute to centralize review of federal grants and add oversight tiers
Summary
Lawmakers approved third-substitute HB 231 to consolidate legislative review of federal grants, create tiered oversight requiring high‑value grants (> $10 million) to come before the Legislature, and add steps to account for FTE or match obligations; sponsors said higher-education research grants are exempt.
The House passed a third substitute of House Bill 231 after sponsors said the measure centralizes the review and approval of federal monies that state agencies receive and imposes a tiered review system.
Representative Chad Bennion, sponsor, explained that the bill establishes a tiered structure: small grants (about $1 million and under) are approved by the Governor's office or the judicial council depending on branch; medium grants have matching-dollar and FTE consequences and are reviewed accordingly; grants above $10 million (unless excluded in the bill) must be presented to the Legislature. Bennion said the change seeks to put authorities in one place and improve accountability after some grant authorities had been scattered through statute.
Bennion also said higher education research grants (e.g., Pell, student loans and similar) are explicitly exempted and that the bill focuses on state agencies that create ongoing obligations. He told the House that about $1.5 billion in grants are reviewed annually under current practice and that the bill will help the Legislature "get our arms around it." The measure passed with a recorded tally of 66 yes votes and 6 no votes and will be forwarded to the Senate.
