Registration for stimulus money recipients starts on Aug. 17

Recipients of Recovery Act funds will begin registering their organizations on FederalReporting.gov on Monday.

Registration is an initial reporting step for state and local governments, contractors, universities, nonprofits and other organizations that have received grants, contracts or loans of more than $25,000 as part of the stimulus effort. Recipients must enroll before submitting spending reports -- due between Oct. 1 and Oct. 10 -- detailing how much money they have received, the amount they have spent so far, the timetable and scope of their projects, and the number of jobs created. Quarterly status reports will follow the first reports.

The 28 federal agencies that have distributed the stimulus funds also must sign up at FederalReporting.gov to review information submitted by recipients and discuss with them any errors or corrections. While agencies can view the information, only recipients will be able to change the data once it is submitted, and only for a short period of time after the Oct. 10 reporting dead-line.

In a July interview with Government Executive, Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board Chairman Earl Devaney said the board will monitor any changes made to spending reports once they are submitted. Software will be applied to track and graph what changes are being made, in which categories and by whom.

"I don't want to be sitting in here while people I have no control over change the data and not have a data set to show what the changes are," Devaney said.

In announcing the start of registration, the board stated that the process is "no more difficult than buying a product online." But registrants must have a DUNS business identification number, which can be obtained online. Grant and loan recipients also must register with the government's Central Contractor Registration database before filing a spending report.

The Recovery Board is asking recipients to get DUNS and CCR numbers in advance of registering on FederalReporting.gov.

The board expects 150,000 to 200,000 recipients to file reports by the Oct. 10 deadline. Due to that volume, officials are encouraging early registration and reporting. Recipients with questions about registration and reporting can call 877-508-7386 toll free between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. start-ing on Monday.

Devaney acknowledged that the board will have to estimate the number of recipients that could register and report between Aug. 17 and Oct. 10.

"We don't know on Oct. 10 if 100,000 recipients are going to report in, or a million," he said. "I am going to assume it's on the lower end because the money hasn't moved out quickly, but we have just guess estimates."

Devaney said while the benefits of this level of transparency are clear, openness also will likely bring criticisms.

"I am increasingly aware that when we unleash this transparency in October, and the American people get to see how their money is being spent, not everybody is going to be happy," Devaney said. "It struck me that everybody understands the positive aspects of transparency but not that many people want to admit there could be a downside of transparency. The question is: When the American people see it, how are they going to react? I don't know, and I can't predict that. I would just say it's going to be an interesting fall."