Board pauses responsive grant program to tighten urgent-need criteria

The board voted unanimously to pause the responsive grant program for 30 days so staff can revise eligibility criteria and applicant guidance.

Staff from the attorney general’s office and the Sunflower team told the board they have seen an influx of applications that do not meet the program’s intended urgent-need standard and that the current process is consuming substantial staff time. “My estimate is that it'll be around an additional $40,000,000 over the lifetime of the settlement program,” Chris said when summarizing settlement-related funding that will feed future awards, then pivoted to warn that the responsive program’s current design is overwhelming reviewers.

The pause will let staff rewrite the qualifications, tighten documentation requirements and add clearer public guidance on what qualifies as a critical, time-sensitive need. Staff said they will also consider opening a separate “innovative” bucket with lighter review for novel projects.

Board members debated balancing openness to applicants with the need to preserve staff capacity. One member said he values direct contact with applicants based on his legislative experience but acknowledged the need to avoid processes that “inhibit innovation.” Chris noted that staff have seen some applicants generate voluminous responses (including material produced with AI tools) that consume review resources and complicate timely decisions.

The board approved the motion to pause the responsive program for 30 days by voice vote; the chair announced unanimous approval. Staff said the pause is intended to be temporary and that the revised process would be brought back to the board for review.

Next steps: staff will draft revised qualifications and public guidance during the pause and report back to the board at the meeting that follows the 30-day interval.