The Senate rejected an appropriations amendment Thursday that would have imposed a 25 percent matching requirement for anyone receiving Justice Department grants.
The amendment was part of a proposal offered by Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Republican Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who said his plan would have built more accountability into the grant process. It was defeated 54-46.
“This amendment is a response to the lack of oversight, accountability, and responsibility for how American taxpayer dollars are spent by grant recipients” he said, adding that the department’s Inspector General has consistently listed grant administration as a problem. It would have required that the IG monitor a larger number of grants each year and would have required DOJ to recoup money from grantees who were on a list of those not eligible to receive grants.
Grassley’s plan also would have prohibited grants to any nonprofit charity that holds money in offshore accounts. Grassley said he had led an inquiry into the finances of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and found that the organization had $54 million in offshore investment.
But Grassley said his 25 percent matching requirement was causing panic among “special interest lobbyists.”
“This provision mirrors one recently included at a Judiciary Committee markup supported by all Judiciary Committee Democrats and some Republicans,” he said, in a statement. “Matching requirements are often required by grant programs that virtually all members have supported.”
He said the provision was so controversial that he wanted to delete it to ease the passage of the rest of his plan, but that Democrats refused. “This is big money at stake with Federal grants,” he said. “Talk about special interests, the special interests have spoken. Those who oppose my amendment oppose holding grantees accountable for how they spend taxpayer dollars.”
However, Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-R.I.) called for the defeat of the Grassley plan, saying that it would have imposed a one-size-fits-all requirement on DOJ programs. He also said that many grant recipients could not afford the 25 percent matching requirement, resulting in many worthy groups not being eligible for federal programs.
