James M. Jeffords: “I regret that my colleague does not find them sufficient. But I must say that his amendment goes too far, and if adopted…”

“I regret that my colleague does not find them sufficient. But I must say that his amendment goes too far, and if adopted it will kill any chance of reauthorizing the Older Americans Act this year. I urge all of the Senators to vote against the amendment. On its face, this proposal may look reasonable, but it is not. It sets standards that would penalize all grantees and would preclude them providing these valuable services without the opportunity to have what are book keeping disputes adjudicated. Moreover, the bill expressly requires each grantee to comply with OMB circulars and rules and requires the grantees to maintain records sufficient to permit tracing of funds to ensure that funds have not been spent unlawfully. The bill institutes and requires performance outcome measures, annual grantee evaluations, grantee accountability and it creates a new grant competition for those not meeting performance measures. It provides Governors and States greater resources and influence over job slot allocations, but also requires broad stakeholder participation in a State Senior Employment Services Plan coordinated through Governor's offices. Our bill introduces performance measures and competition into the senior employment program for the first time.”