Rogers v. United States

14 Cl. Ct. 39, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 232, 1987 WL 23412
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedDecember 16, 1987
DocketNo. 444-85C
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 14 Cl. Ct. 39 (Rogers v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rogers v. United States, 14 Cl. Ct. 39, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 232, 1987 WL 23412 (cc 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

MARGOLIS, Judge.

Plaintiffs, two Kansas community action agencies which provide assistance to low-income persons, and Wallace Rogers, a recipient of such assistance, brought this action [42]*42challenging defendant’s refusal to fund plaintiffs’ entire 1981 program year. The parties filed cross motions for summary judgment. Defendant has also filed a partial motion to dismiss. After having reviewed the record and after hearing oral argument, defendant’s partial motion to dismiss is granted and defendant’s motion for summary judgment is granted. The plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment is denied.

FACTS

The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, Pub.L. No. 88-452, 78 Stat. 508 (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. §§ 2701-29960 (repealed in part 1981), established the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). OEO and its successor agency, the Community Services Administration (CSA), provided financial assistance to the low income population through various state and local community action agencies (CAAs). Until 1974, each CAA was funded with one grant to cover its entire program year. In 1974, Congress failed to appropriate sufficient funds to re-fund all CAAs at their 1973 levels. To cope with the lowered federal fiscal year (FFY) 1974 appropriation, CSA decided to fund each CAA only to the end of FFY 1974 rather than to the end of the CAA’s program year. This change allowed CSA to fund individual CAAs at pre-reduction FFY 1973 levels.

In 1975, the closing date of the FFY was changed from June 30 to September 30. CSA, buoyed by supplemental appropriations, took advantage of this change in the FFY to restore many CAAs to full program year funding. To do this, CAAs were divided into two categories: large CAAs, which received over $300,000 annually in Section 221 (42 U.S.C. § 2808) funds, and small CAAs, which received less than $300,000 annually in Section 221 funds. There were approximately 740 small CAAs and 160 large CAAs. Small CAAs were returned to full program year funding. However, there were not sufficient funds available to return all large CAAs to full program year funding, and, instead, large CAAs received their funding through two separate grants: one grant covering the period from the beginning of the CAA’s program year to the end of the FFY on September 30, and a second grant covering the period from the beginning of the subsequent FFY on October 1 to the end of the CAA's program year.

During this period, large CAAs generally had their programs funded from congressional appropriations from two separate FFYs, while small CAAs were generally funded at the beginning of their program year from congressional appropriations from that FFY. In line with the agency’s regulations, CSA’s objective was to eventually put all CAAs, both large and small, on full program year funding. See 45 C.F.R. § 1067.30-5(8) (stating that “whenever possible” funding will coincide with the program year). By 1981, CSA had restored many large CAAs to full program year funding.

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (Act), Pub.L. No. 97-35, § 683, 95 Stat. 357, 519, enacted on August 13, 1981, repealed major components of the Economic Opportunity Act and altered the method by which federal funds were distributed to CAAs. These changes were to become effective at the beginning of the following FFY, October 1, 1981. The Act abolished the CSA and replaced it with a Community Service Block Grant Program, which authorized the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make block grants directly to the States “to ameliorate the causes of poverty in communities within the State.” 42 U.S.C. § 9901(a). The Act provided for the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to provide for the termination of the affairs of the CSA. 42 U.S.C. § 9911(e).

The Act provided that, subject to certain reductions, each State would receive “an amount which bears the same ratio to such remaining amount as the amount received by the State for fiscal year 1981 under Section 2808 of this title bore to the total amount received by all States for fiscal year 1981 under such part.” 42 U.S.C. § 9903(a)(1). The States were then free to use this money at their discretion to fund [43]*43anti-poverty efforts, including funding the former CAAs. 42 U.S.C. §§ 9902(1), 9904(c). The Act permitted States to opt out of the block grant program for FFY 1982 and instead have the Secretary of Health and Human Services directly fund State and local CAAs under the former law. 42 U.S.C. § 9911. Beginning in FFY 1983, all States were required to operate under the block grant program. The State of Kansas elected to participate in the block grant program for FFY 1982.

Plaintiffs Southeast Kansas Community Action Program (SEK-CAP) and Economic Opportunity Foundation (EOF) are large CAAs in Kansas. Plaintiff Wallace Rogers is a low-income Kansas resident served by SEK-CAP. SEK-CAP’s program year runs from June 1 through May 31. SEK-CAP received $384,000 for program years 1978, 1979, and 1980. On June 1, 1981, SEK-CAP received $114,222 in Section 221 funds for the first four months of its program year through September 30. EOF’s program year runs from April 1 to March 31. EOF’s annual Section 221 funding was $639,000 for fiscal years 1978, 1979, and 1980. On April 1, 1981, EOF received Section 221 funding of $300,200 for six months of funding through September 30, 1981. EOF also received an additional $80,000 in Section 221 funds on September 30, 1981. With the passage of the new Act on August 13, 1981, there were no monies appropriated to CSA with which to fund CAAs for FFY 1982.

As of August 13, 1981, there remained available less than $30 million of unobligat-ed Section 221 funds, which was approximately eight percent of CSA’s FFY 1981 appropriation for the Section 221 program. CSA chose to follow its historical funding pattern and use the remaining Section 221 funds from FFY 1980 to continue funding in full small CAAs whose program years began after August 13 while funding large CAAs only to the end of FFY 1981. After funding these CAAs, surplus funds totaling $1.4 million from FFY 1981 remained in the CSA region responsible for distributing funds to CAAs in Kansas. Although the director of this region requested authority to distribute the remaining FFY 1980 funds to large CAAs to cover at least a portion of their program years remaining after October 1, 1981, as had been done in other regions, this request was denied. Instead, CSA recalled the funds to cover close-out administrative expenses and to serve as a reserve for the Anti-Deficiency Act, 31 U.S.C. § 1512.

As FFY 1981 drew to a close, it became evident that the block grant program would not be prepared to disburse funds to the large CAAs in the near future.

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Bluebook (online)
14 Cl. Ct. 39, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 232, 1987 WL 23412, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rogers-v-united-states-cc-1987.