Do you think of yourself as a lobbyist? No? If you have applied for any sort of grant under any of the numerous economic stimulus programs enacted in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, you have become a lobbyist. Under new rules announced yesterday by Norm Eisen, Obama administration special counsel for ethics and government reform, any person or business seeking a share of the $787 billion in stimulus funding is now bound by rules which used to apply only to registered lobbyists.
Under the new rules, all grant applicants are forbidden from having any telephone or in person communication with the officials to whom their grant application was submitted, and anything the applicant submits in writing regarding the application or the grant must be published on the agency web site within three business days. So, if you are writing to inquire about the status of your grant application, or its merits as opposed to competing applications, be aware that your customers, competitors, employees and the general public will see exactly what you have written. This will include E-mails.
Remember, when writing in about your grant application, everything you say will become public and will reflect on your company, perhaps for years to come. Never write anything in anger or in haste, and it is probably a good idea to have someone else look it over before you send it in.
Under the new rules, all grant applicants are forbidden from having any telephone or in person communication with the officials to whom their grant application was submitted, and anything the applicant submits in writing regarding the application or the grant must be published on the agency web site within three business days. So, if you are writing to inquire about the status of your grant application, or its merits as opposed to competing applications, be aware that your customers, competitors, employees and the general public will see exactly what you have written. This will include E-mails.
Remember, when writing in about your grant application, everything you say will become public and will reflect on your company, perhaps for years to come. Never write anything in anger or in haste, and it is probably a good idea to have someone else look it over before you send it in.
