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Legislative analysts build tool to map billions in federal awards to Montana recipients
Summary
LFD staff described a Power BI tool linking FFIS, USAspending and state accounting to track federal awards, obligations and outlays by program and recipient type (state agencies, local governments, tribes, nonprofits, individuals). The tool aims to estimate how federal appropriation changes would affect Montana.
LFD analysts presented work to create a consolidated dataset and Power BI tool that maps federal awards, obligations and outlays to Montana recipients. The tool draws on Federal Funds Information for States (FFIS), USAspending.gov award records, and the state’s SABERS accounting system to show which programs and awards flow to which recipients, by county and recipient type.
Analysts explained limitations in USAspending data — particularly that awards are reported as lifetime obligations (not always broken into year‑by‑year outlays) and that reliable outlay detail is complete only in more recent years. LFD will crosswalk state accounting records to award data to avoid double counting and to surface actual year‑by‑year expenditures in Montana. The tool will let staff simulate how proposed federal‑budget or appropriation changes would affect state programs, local governments and other recipients.
Committee members asked for further disaggregation by recipient (tribal governments, localities, nonprofits), for average award durations, and for an approach to capture unreimbursed state matches or maintenance‑of‑effort obligations that accompany many federal grants. Staff agreed to refine the crosswalk and add county and recipient‑type filters for the committee’s August briefing.
