Special District Fairness and Accessibility Act
The Special District Fairness and Accessibility Act would require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue guidance within 180 days clarifying that special districts—the autonomous political subdivisions created by states for specific governmental or proprietary functions—should be recognized as local governments for the purposes of determining eligibility for Federal financial assistance. Once the guidance is issued, each federal agency would have one year to implement the guidance and align its policies on administering federal financial assistance programs. The bill also requires the OMB to submit a report within two years evaluating how well agencies have implemented and conformed to the guidance. In short, the bill seeks to ensure a uniform federal recognition of special districts as local governments when deciding eligibility for federal funding.
Key Points
- 1OMB must issue guidance within 180 days clarifying that special districts should be treated as units of local government for federal financial assistance eligibility.
- 2Federal agencies must implement the guidance and conform their policies within one year after the guidance is issued.
- 3The Director must submit a report to Congress (House Oversight and Reform Committee and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee) within two years assessing agency implementation and conformity.
- 4Definitions included in the bill specify terms such as agency, Director, Federal financial assistance, special district, and State.
- 5The term “Federal financial assistance” encompasses grants, loans, loan guarantees, property, cooperative agreements, subsidies, insurance, direct appropriations, or other assistance, but excludes reimbursement for services rendered to individuals as described by the Director’s guidance.
- 6A special district is defined as a state-created political subdivision with specified boundaries and significant budget autonomy, formed to perform limited governmental or proprietary functions, making it a distinct entity from other local government structures.