by Meghan Maury
Form of the Week: Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors (E.O. 14398) for Contract-Like Instruments. GSA is seeking approval for a new information collection to enforce Executive Order 14398, which bars federal contractors from engaging in what the order calls “racially discriminatory” DEI activities. The collection would extend the anti-DEI contract clause to GSA’s non-FAR contract-like instruments, including leases, concession contracts, and outleases, and would require contractors to provide records on request, report known or “reasonably knowable” subcontractor conduct that may violate the clause, and notify GSA if a subcontractor lawsuit challenges it. As a result of this form's requirements, prime contractors will need to monitor and report on subcontractors, which could discourage contractors and subcontractors from maintaining lawful DEI or supplier-diversity work if they fear federal scrutiny, contract remedies, or being reported by a business partner.
Comments due August 24.
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Note: The Take Action tab of dataindex.us provides information about even more surveys, forms, evaluations, and records notices than are listed in your weekly newsletter.
Civil Rights
National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center Evaluation Package. ACF is revising the evaluation forms used to collect feedback on National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center services by replacing gender questions with sex questions limited to male and female response options, and by removing or rewriting all questions referencing diversity, equity, and inclusion; they also streamline the forms and add evaluation of SOAR Demonstration Grant activities.
Comments due August 10.Public Health/Public Safety Strategies to Reduce Drug Overdose. CDC is revising its data collection on public health and public safety overdose-prevention strategies to remove the objective of identifying disparities in access to, or the effectiveness of, those strategies. The collection will continue to examine program implementation and ways to improve overdose responses but will no longer expressly assess whether interventions reach or work equally well for different populations. CDC says only that the disparities objective is “no longer needed.”
Comments due August 5.
Housing
Projects for Assistance in Transition From Homelessness (PATH) Program Annual Report Manual. HUD is revising its annual report for the PATH homelessness-services program to remove the gender question, add a sex question, and change “Hispanic/Latina/e/o” to “Hispanic/Latina/o,” eliminating the gender-neutral term Latine.
Comments due August 5.Annual Moving To Work (MTW) Plan and Report Elements. HUD is revising annual reporting for newer Moving to Work housing agencies by eliminating many general questions and all activity-specific questions about policies such as work requirements, rent changes, and time-limited assistance. Agencies would also stop reporting their own evaluations, reducing standardized information available to HUD, residents, and the public about how these policies operate and affect families.
Comments due August 6.
Data Sharing
Verification of Eligibility for Insurance Affordability Programs Under PPACA. CMS is establishing a data-matching program with the Department of Veterans Affairs to verify whether veterans applying for Marketplace or other health-coverage assistance are enrolled in VA health care and to use VA disability information in determining eligibility for subsidies. CMS will send identity information, including Social Security number and sex, and receive VA enrollment dates and detailed disability ratings; matches must be verified before benefits are denied or reduced.
Comments due August 5.Verification of Eligibility for Minimum Essential Coverage Under PPACA. CMS is renewing its data matching program with the VA to verify whether veterans seeking Marketplace coverage have qualifying VA health coverage, which can affect eligibility for premium tax credits and cost-sharing assistance. CMS will send identifying information, including Social Security number and sex, and VA will return coverage dates; matches must be verified before assistance is denied or reduced.
Comments due August 6.Single-Family Mortgage Asset Recovery Technology (SMART) system. HUD is revising its system for servicing Secretary-held FHA loans to collect taxpayer identification numbers for refunds and overpayments and share borrowers’ information with Treasury’s Do Not Pay system. The data may be used to screen eligibility for federal payments and benefits and identify or recoup improper payments, expanding automated cross-program scrutiny of borrowers.
Comments due August 6.
Health
Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program Measures. HRSA is revising annual performance reporting for Rural Health Care Services Outreach grantees by reorganizing existing measures, adding nine maternal-health measures for Healthy Rural Hometown Initiative grantees, and adding or revising questions about whether funded services can be sustained after the grant ends.
Comments due August 6.
Education
Income Driven Repayment Plan Request. ED is revising the income-driven student-loan repayment form to add the new Repayment Assistance Plan, restrict borrowers with loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 to that plan among income-driven options, and notify borrowers that PAYE and ICR will end in 2028.
Comments due August 7.