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County staff warn new federal "uniform guidance" rules would add compliance costs and political discretion to grants
Summary
County grants staff briefed commissioners on proposed OMB rules that would codify uniform guidance into regulation, give political appointees final say on discretionary grants, require SAM.gov registration for subrecipients, tighter expense justifications, and raise audit and litigation risks for Sedgwick County.
Lindsay, a county grants presenter, told commissioners the Office of Management and Budget has proposed changes that would convert federal "uniform guidance"—the rules for managing federal grants—into binding regulation and could take effect as soon as Oct. 1. "Uniform guidance has nothing to do with what we wear," Lindsay said, then explained the term is the federal rulebook for grants. "The proposed rule would go into effect originally as it was put forward October 1," she added.
Staff said the most consequential change is giving senior federal political appointees a more direct role in discretionary‑grant decisions and the authority to suspend or stop work for up to 90 days or terminate awards. "Even if staff recommends approval... now a senior political appointee will make the call," Lindsay warned, saying there would be no administrative appeal when a decision is based on priorities rather than statutory noncompliance.
The presentation flagged several operational impacts for the county: mandatory SAM.gov registration and compliance for subrecipients and contractors; written justification for every expense and stricter documentation tied to award activities and milestones; higher OIG audit scrutiny of individual expenses; expanded conflict‑of‑interest disclosures; and a viewpoint‑neutrality condition for county‑controlled property as a condition of receiving federal funds. "Entities receiving federal funds are subject to viewpoint neutrality on all county controlled property as a condition of receiving any federal funds," Lindsay said.
Michelle Strut, the county grants compliance director, joined the discussion about the county's federal portfolio and web publishing. She said the county listed about $40,000,000 in federal expenditures in the CIFA last year (largely driven by ARPA funding) and that staff could provide more detailed lists of subrecipients and awarded amounts on request. "We last year, we had 40,000,000 in the CIFA," Michelle told the group.
Commissioners praised the briefing and asked staff to pause or reconsider moving forward on discretionary applications until the rules and a possible congressional delay are resolved. Lindsay said county policy and manuals will be updated and asked commissioners to authorize follow‑up briefings once the final rule or any federal delay is confirmed. The county plans to prioritize documentation, monitoring and, where appropriate, ask departments to request additional resources if workloads increase because of the new requirements.
