The push toward better and more efficient federal spending has led to increased focus on local government spending and accountability. For North Carolina, this impacts areas like labor, public health, and education because of the Stevens Amendment. If you have not dealt with it yet, you likely will. Our local government team has received a number of questions about the Stevens Amendment recently, so here are the details:

Where Did This Come From?

The Stevens Amendment is not new. Congress first included it in 1989 as part of the federal appropriations act for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. Since then, the requirement has continued through annual federal funding laws. That is why it still matters today. It is a recurring condition that comes with certain federal funds. In simple terms, it is a federal budget amendment. The point is government accountability and transparency in federal grant spending. For local governments, the takeaway is simple: if your entity receives federal grant funding in areas like labor, public health, or education, this requirement may come with it, and it has been around for decades.

What Does the Stevens Amendment Require?

The Stevens Amendment is a federal funding rule that applies to certain grants from the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Education. When a local government produces materials about a program or project that is paid for, in whole or in part, with federal money, it generally needs to include a funding disclosure.

The disclosure should include:

• The percentage of the program funded with federal money;
• The dollar amount of federal funding; and
• The percentage funded by non-governmental sources; and
• The dollar amount funded by non-governmental sources.

In plain English, it is not enough to say, “this program is federally funded.” The disclosure needs to show how much federal money is involved and whether any non-federal money is also being used. Sometimes the funds are entirely federal grant funds, and that is okay too; the Stevens Amendment still applies.

Why Does It Matter?

For many local governments, federal dollars are built into everyday operations, especially in public health, workforce development, social services, and other grant-funded programs. That means this requirement is not limited to one department or one project. The requirement to disclose funding sources can show up in health department initiatives involving CDC, HRSA, and other HHS funding streams; workforce or economic development programs; and any project supported in part with federal grant funding.

Practically speaking, this is an internal coordination issue. Legal, finance, grant staff, and communications staff all need to know when the disclosure is required and what language should be used.

Common Pitfalls We’ve Noticed

A few patterns continue to come up:

1. The disclosure is incomplete. Saying a program is “federally funded” is usually not enough. The disclosure should include the percentages and dollar amounts required by the grant condition.
2. The disclosure is used in some places, but not others. A local government may include the language in a formal report but leave it out of a website post, social media announcement, flyer, or presentation. The requirement can still apply to those public-facing materials. With the increased use of social media, this happens frequently.
3. The requirement is not passed on to partners. If a local government passes federal funds to another entity, the disclosure obligation may follow those funds. Subrecipients, contractors, and community partners may need to use the same funding language.

None of these issues are especially complicated. They are just easy to miss when the disclosure is not built into the process. As referenced earlier: easy requirement, big impact.

Practical Takeaways

For Town Managers, County Managers, department heads, and anyone working with grant-funded programs, the practical answer is to build this into the process early. Know which programs use federal funds, keep standard disclosure language for those programs, and make sure the people preparing public-facing materials know when to use it.

It also means looping in communications staff and social media managers and making sure any subrecipients, contractors, or community partners understand the requirement if they are communicating about the federally funded work.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is this: this is not a complicated requirement, but it is one that gets missed. If federal grant money is involved, do not wait until the end to think about the disclosure.

• Do not just say “federally funded.” Include the percentages and dollar amounts.
• Think beyond formal reports. Websites, social media, flyers, presentations, and press releases may need it too.
• If partners, contractors, or subrecipients are communicating about the program, make sure they know the requirement too.

The easiest fix is to build it into the process upfront. Know which programs use federal funds, keep standard language ready, and make sure the right people are talking to each other before materials go out.