About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

1 1 (July 15, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govehyp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 





Congressional Research Service
informing the legislative debate since 1914


                                                                                                  July 15, 2022

Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Administrative

Expenses


Federal regional commissions and authorities (hereinafter
regional commissions) are congressionally-chartered,
federal-state partnerships that seek to address economic
distress in their designated regions. The regional
commissions may  use congressional appropriations (base
funding), state contributions, or-occasionally-other
funding sources for grants, other activities, and
administrative expenses. This report provides a summary of
the uses and sources of funds associated with the
administrative expenses of the active regional commissions.
For additional information about the regional commissions,
including the sources and uses of grant funds (e.g., non-
administrative expenses), see CRS Report R45997, Federal
Regional Commissions and Authorities: Structural Features
and Function.

Background
Congress has established seven federal regional
commissions and authorities to address community and
economic development and related activities in their
respective service areas. Five of the seven federal regional
commissions are active:

*  Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC);

*  Delta Regional Authority (DRA);

*  Denali Commission;

*  Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC);  and

*  Southeast Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC).

Each active commission is composed of a federal co-chair
(generally appointed by the President with Senate
confirmation) and the member state governor(s). As noted
below, the structure of the Denali Commission is different.
The Southwest Border Regional Commission (SBRC)  does
not have a federal co-chair and is not currently active. The
authorization of appropriations for the Northern Great
Plains Regional Authority (NGPRA) lapsed at the end of
FY2018  and it is no longer active.

Table  1. Active Regional Commissions, Number   of
Member   States, and Establishing Statutes

                No. States  Establishing Statute


ARC
DRA
Denali
Commission


13
8


40 U.S.C. § 14301 et seq.
7 U.S.C. §2009aa-I et seq.
42 U.S.C. §3121 note


               No. States   Establishing Statute

 NBRC          4            40 U.S.C. § 15301 et seq.
 SCRC          7            40 U.S.C. § 15301 et seq.
 Source: Data compiled by CRS from the U.S. Code and official
 sources of various federal regional commissions and authorities.
 Original authorizing public laws, in order of tabulation, are: P.L. 89-
4; P.L. 106-554; P.L. 105-277; P.L. 110-234; and P.L. 110-234.

Admin istrative Expenses
Administrative expenses vary by regional commission and
amounts, and generally include:

  Salaries and benefits, and

  Operating expenses (e.g., travel, rent, communications,
   printing, services, supplies, equipment).

ARC,  DRA,   NBRC,  SCRC   - Multi-State Regions
The active multi-state regional commissions (i.e., ARC,
DRA,  NBRC,  and SCRC)  use a partnership structure that
involves the federal partner and the regional commission
(representing governors of each member state and the
federal partner). The federal partner and the regional
commission both incur administrative expenses.

*  Federal partner - The federal co-chair represents the
   federal partner. The federal co-chair and federal
   alternate co-chair (if any) are federal employees. In
   addition, the offices of the federal co-chair may include
   other federal staff (e.g., advisors, federal employees who
   are detailed to the office).

*  Commission  - Regional commission activities are
   developed and informed by both the federal partner and
   representatives from member states. Regional
   commission staff (e.g., the executive director, program
   staff, other positions) are nonfederal employees.

The  Denali Commission -   Singe-State  Region
The Denali Commission also incurs administrative
expenses. However, the Denali Commission structure is
unique as a single-state commission led by a federal co-
chair and six commissioners. The Denali Commission is
also different from the other regional commissions because
the U.S. Secretary of Commerce appoints the federal co-
chair, rather than by the President with Senate confirmation.
The six commissioners represent state government and non-
governmental organizations, as specified in the Denali
Commission's establishing statute (42 U.S.C. §3121 note,
Sec. 303(b)(1)). Unlike most regional commission staff of


S

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most