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You are invited to attend the Maryland Governor's Grants Training Conference on November 13, 2014. It’s an opportunity to discuss the most dramatic grants reform in 50 years and receive important training. If you need to know how to manage your federal or state pass-through grant under the new guidelines, you’ll want to be at this conference.

Take advantage of the early bird price of $76, available until October 10, which includes breakfast, lunch, parking, sessions, and more. An added bonus—FFIS’s own Deputy Director Trinity Tomsic will be there to moderate.

For more information and to register, click here:
http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e9gorod864145abe&llr=k85mzxbab

Congress on Thursday sent the president a highway bill extension, running through next May. The legislation (HR 5021) would extend federal transportation programs through May 31, 2015. The Senate had proposed different offsets and a shorter timeframe that would force Congress to tackle a long-term transportation bill before the end of the year. On Wednesday night, House leaders put forward a motion to disagree with the Senate amendments and revert to the House bill. The Senate had little choice but to clear it on Thursday, with highway funding facing cuts today.

A FFIS Issue Brief on the bill is forthcoming.

During a conference call today, a representative from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) clarified the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) cash management plan to address the pending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), which will take effect on August 1 absent legislative action.

Specifically, DOT confirmed that a state may submit multiple reimbursement requests during a semi-monthly allocation period, which will be paid until the state’s cap is reached. Reimbursements will not be delivered on the same day they are requested, but 1-3 business days later. Once a state reaches its cap, reimbursements will halt for that period, but submissions above the cap may be carried over into the next period if requested by the state.

DOT will calculate reimbursement caps for each semi-monthly period based on the share of apportioned funding. A step-by-step example and a table showing each state and territory’s share of cash allocations for the semi-monthly period is included in new guidance released by DOT: http://www.dot.gov/grow-america/dot-guidance-cmp-htf

The following website has the most up-to-date information coming out of DOT:
http://www.dot.gov/highway-trust-fund-ticker