Congresswoman for Iowa’s 3rd District Cindy Axne (D) helped pass a bipartisan bill in the U.S. House recently, which could help Iowa communities, small businesses, and farmers more easily access federal grant funds.

The Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency, or GREAT, Act, previously passed in the House last September, but did not draw a Senate vote in that legislative session. Axne co-sponsored this year’s bill with Republican North Carolina Representative Virginia Foxx to ensure that rural communities get the funding they need through a comprehensive and standardized taxonomy for federal grants.

Axne says currently the federal government awards $600 billion in annual grant spending through 26 different federal agencies with 26 different reporting requirements, “So what this does, the GREAT Act, streamlines and modernizes the federal grant process so that we can improve that efficiency and get more money into our local communities, make it easier for our communities to get those grants and get those dollars more quickly. Because we are leaving billions of dollars on the table right now, and that needs to go out to our local communities and I wanted to make sure that happens.”

Axne says this bill aligns well with her professional background, helping over 20 state agencies deliver government services more effectively and efficiently for taxpayers.