(The following was excerpted from an article in the Single Audit Information Service.) In response to a recent audit, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources plans to review findings received about its Community Conservation Partnership Program (C2P2) and determine what steps it can take to ensure that documentation is submitted and appropriately reviewed.

Did you get a chance to attend the webinar on the new grants reform guidance hosted on Monday by the Council on Financial Assistance Reform and the Office of Management and Budget? If so, were you among those of us who felt like we’ve been swept away by an “information tsunami?” As the presenters rapidly ticked off the numerous changes in the guidance, we’re you finding it hard to keep up? Want to ask a question, only to find they had moved on to the next topic? We felt that way too. So many changes; so little time.

Anyone who lives in the Washington, D.C. area knows what a bear it is to commute here. The traffic is horrible, and the subway option isn’t much better. Washington’s Metro system is constantly crowded and trains are inconsistent, yet Metro still continues to raise its fares. After reading a recent Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General audit on the mismanagement of federal funds awarded to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to build a new Metrorail line to Dulles Airport west of the city, let’s just say I’m even a bit more irate than I already was about our local transit system.

Do you have about four hours free on Monday morning? If so, then you may want to sign up to take part in the Council on Financial Assistance Reform’s webinar on the new grants reform guidance. COFAR finally released an agenda for the session yesterday.

(The following was excerpted from an article in the Federal Grants Management Handbook.) The Government Accountability Office recently recommended that the Department of Labor issue uniform guidance to states to improve the consistency and completeness of national data on participants in the Workforce Investment Act Adult and Dislocated Worker programs.

At the end of this year, Congress will lose one of its strongest government watchdogs as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) retires. Whether you agreed or disagreed with his politics, Coburn definitely will leave his mark as being one of the most tireless combatants of government waste. It will be interesting to see if someone else in Congress takes the “waste-fighting” baton and runs with it next year.

Let me know if I’m not the only one who has experienced this: Sitting at the supper table not to long ago, the topic of colleges came up. Going to college is expensive, which eventually segued in to a discussion on scholarships. As the realization set in as to how competitive scholarships are and how important it is to get good grades, my daughter was reduced to tears. “I’ll never make it,” she wailed, “I made a B in math.” Folks, she’s only 12.

(The following was excerpted from an article in the Single Audit Information Service.) Because of the necessity to deliver federal relief funding quickly following natural disasters, the Office of Management and Budget recently concurred with a Government Accountability Office recommendation that standard guidance for federal agencies is necessary to better distribute funds as quickly as possible while reducing potential fraud and abuse that can often occur in these situations.

The Office of Management and Budget’s new uniform grants reform guidance may be grabbing the headlines in the grants world these days, but important work still goes on in other areas. For instance, the Government Accountability and Transparency Board, also known as the GAT Board, is preparing its 2014 annual plan (Calendar Year 2014 Way Forward document), and it is asking for the public to provide input.

You’ve heard about it; now’s your time to learn more about it. The Office of Management and Budget last month issued its uniform grants guidance, previously referred to as the “supercircular,” which is the most expansive grant reform since the Single Audit Act of 1984.