House Passes Stimulus Tweaks

By Rob Brodsky

The House today passed the Enhanced Oversight of State and Local Economic Recovery Act which modifies certain terms of the $787 billion economic Recovery Act.

The bill, which was sponsored by several members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, would allow state and local governments the flexibility to set aside a small portion of their stimulus funds for auditing, contract and grant planning and management, oversight and data collection.

The legislation would also let state and local governments use Recovery Act funds to purchase goods and services off the General Services Administration's federal supply schedules through a process known as cooperative purchasing. And, finally the bill would require the federal government to give detailed guidance to state and local governments about tracking jobs that were created or saved because of the stimulus