NSAA public comments on OMB's proposed rule to create a uniform regulatory framework for federal financial assistance by incorporating government-wide policies into 2 C.F.R. through a single rulemaking. Acknowledging the potential beneift in making the federal financial assistance approval process more efficient, NSAA noted that several provisions of the proposed rule incorporate broad policy standards that depend upon evolving Executive Branch interpretations rather than established legal requirements. As drafted, these provisions would increase legal and operational risk for school districts by requiring federal agencies—and ultimately grant recipients—to navigate undefined standards whose meaning may shift from one administration to the next.
NSAA urged OMB to reflect in the proposed regulatory framework that federal financial assistance is conditioned upon compliance with statutes, constitutional requirements, and final judicial decisions, rather than changing executive interpretations of unsettled legal questions, and to revise the proposed rule to provide objective, legally grounded standards that can be applied consistently regardless of changes in presidential administrations.