December 2023

Good afternoon,

2023 has been a big year for the State of Oklahoma and our progress on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) programs. Together, we have celebrated great strides forward in all ARPA projects and are excited to reach new milestones in 2024.

I encourage you to continue taking advantage of the new tools we have published on the ARPA website over the last few months and look for opportunities to use the Program Tracker dashboard as a way to tell your program success stories. As we begin 2024, the GMO will again be looking to collaborate with you as we move to implement a central ARPA grants management system to support agencies. More information will come soon on this exciting initiative, so please keep an eye out for further updates. 

All the achievements we have celebrated together over the past year are only possible through your continued partnership, and I want to personally thank you for the collaboration in achieving our joint goal of helping Oklahomans by utilizing ARPA dollars.

Happy New Year,

Caden Cleveland
Director of Public Affairs and Grants Management,
Office of Management and Services

Note these metrics reflect data as of Dec. 27. Please visit the ARPA Program Tracker for the most up-to-date information.

• $492,941,606.73, or 26.4%, of total funds disbursed.
• $461,264,322.26 disbursed in 2023.
• 12 projects fully funded in 2023.
• $80,754,362 projected to be disbursed over the next 90 days.

Remember to check out the GMO's current templates and guidance available on the Subrecipient guidance webpage.

New GMO guidance:

• Written Justification for Capital Expenditures.
  

The GMO is awaiting guidance on the obligation deadline. Once we receive confirmation, we'll communicate that to agencies.

Reminder: OMES recently published the new Statewide Accounting Manual, which we have placed on the Subrecipient guidance webpage for easy access as needed.

On Dec. 14, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released an update to the Compliance and Reporting Guidance (Reporting Guidance) for the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program authorized by ARPA.

The update, which can be found on Pages 10-11 of the Reporting Guidance, is in connection with the Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), to clarify that SLFRF recipients are not required to report UEIs for contractor entities receiving SLFRF funds. Treasury previously provided guidance that recipients must report UEIs for all subrecipients, and are not required to obtain a UEI for individuals or entities receiving SLFRF funds as beneficiaries.

Recipients must continue to maintain procedures for obtaining information evidencing a given beneficiary’s, subrecipient’s, or contractor’s eligibility, including ensuring that subrecipients and contractors, in accordance with 2 CFR 200.214 and 2 CFR Part 200, Appendix II, paragraph (H), are not debarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participation in federal assistance programs or activities prior to entering into a subaward or contract. For information regarding ways that SLFRF recipients, as non-federal entities, can verify that proposed contractors and subrecipients are in good standing, please see 2 CFR 180.300 and Treasury’s implementing regulations at 31 CFR 19.300.

If you would like GMO to consider drafting guidance for your agency on any ARPA-SLFRF-related questions or to submit a question to the U.S. Department of the Treasury on your behalf, please complete this online form.

Did you know quarterly expenditure reporting is due back to the GMO by Jan. 12, for full submission to the U.S. Treasury by Jan. 31?

Be sure you're communicating closely with your project stakeholders to collect the most up-to-date expenditure data.

Several ARPA infrastructure projects planned for 2024

Human Services ensures ARPA funds make a meaningful difference in Oklahoma

Know of any positive ARPA stories? Let us know so we can feature them on the ARPA website!

Maximizing Recovery on Your Grants by Leveraging Indirect Cost
Jan. 31 | Noon-1 p.m. CST

Department of Labor 2024 Prevailing Wage Seminars
Feb. 27 | 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST

If you know of any other training opportunities, please share them with us!

This month, we're giving a massive shoutout to Oklahoma Human Services for their partnership with Food on the Move to create a food distribution and storage network for increasing access to healthy locally grown food, as well as supporting Oklahoma farmers.

The state Legislature has allocated $3 million in ARPA funds to this dedicated effort of addressing food insecurity.

We thank the OHS grants team for their efficiency and swiftness of implementation on this project.