Federal Grant Rule Rewrite Will Affect Every County in New York State — Comments Due July 13
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is in the process of one of the largest rewrites of federal grant rules in over a decade. On May 29, OMB, together with every federal grantmaking agency, published a proposed rule rewriting 2 CFR Part 200 — the Uniform Guidance that governs how every federal grant, cooperative agreement, and pass-through award is applied for, awarded, and administered.
Every county in New York State will be affected. The Uniform Guidance covers direct federal grant applications as well as the pass-through funding counties administer under state law and regulation, impacting programs across public health, public safety, transportation, housing, and human services. Nationally, these rules govern $1.1 trillion in federal grants to state and local governments in FY 2024 — 17 percent of all federal spending that year.
"This affects any county that receives any federal funds whatsoever," said Emily Brock, director of the Federal Liaison Center at the Government Finance Officers Association. Brock has noted the rule reaches core safety-net programs like Medicaid, alongside housing, education, and energy funding that counties administer locally.
NACo has built a full set of tools to help counties respond:
- OMB Proposed Rule Resource Hub — a plain-language breakdown of the proposed changes and their fiscal and operational impact on counties as both direct recipients and pass-through entities.
- Customizable comment letter template — built for county commissioners, executives, and administrators to personalize with their own grant programs and submit directly to OMB.
- Webinar recording: Understanding the Proposed Rewrite of 2 CFR — a section-by-section walkthrough of the rule's operational implications for local government.
- Full text of the proposed rule — via the Federal Register.
NYSAC strongly encourages county officials to review the proposed changes and submit comments. Comments are due by the end of the day on July 13 and can be filed at regulations.gov under docket OMB-2026-0034.
The deadline is July 13. After that, the comment period closes.