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The purpose of the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) is to increase accountability and transparency in the use of grant funds while reducing the administrative burden on both state agencies and grantees. The law provides for the development of a coordinated, non-redundant process to establish effective and efficient oversight of the selection and monitoring of grant recipients, ensuring quality programs; limiting fraud, waste, and abuse; and defining the purpose, scope, applicability, and responsibilities in the life cycle of a grant. 

 Registration Process

GATA Grantee Registration

All grantees must be registered and be qualified to do business with the state of Illinois.

To be qualified to apply for a grant, an entity must complete the following four steps in the GATA Grantee Portal:

  1. Authentication

    A personal or business email address is required to establish an Illinois.gov account. If your email was not previously associated with the organization that you represent, click the “Create a new account" link and follow the prompts. For help with the Illinois.gov Authentication Portal please visit the Accounts Page.  Additional instructions may also be found on the Grantee Portal FAQ Page.

  2. Registration

    Once your Illinois.gov account is created, you must return to the Grantee Portal log in screen and enter your user name and password to continue.  The system will then ask for your organization's DUNS number.  If the DUNS number for your organization is on record with GATA the system will associate you with your organization.  The process may require the approval of the primary GATA system registrant for your organization. After accessing your entities registration information, click the “Edit" button found near the top of the screen.  This will allow you to correct/confirm the listed information and select the appropriate organization type for your entity.

    If the DUNS number that you enter is not found in the GATA system, the system will invite you to create a new grantee account for the entity related to that DUNS number.  Please confirm that you entered the correct DUNS number before creating a new account.  Creation of a new grantee account is accomplished by providing your organization's:

  3. Grantee Pre-qualification

    All entities must be qualified to do business with the State of Illinois.  To be qualified for a grant award, an entity must:

    • Be registered in the GATA Grantee Portal system as described above;
    • Have a valid DUNS number, (View instructions on obtaining a DUNS number);
    • Have a current SAM.gov account, (View instructions on obtaining a SAM Cage CodePDF Document);
    • Not be on the Federal Excluded Parties List;
    • Be in Good Standing with the Illinois Secretary of State, as applicable) ( Verify Good Standing);
    • Not be on the Illinois Stop Payment list; and
    • Not be on the Department of Healthcare and Family Services Provider Sanctions list. 


    Pre-qualification status will be verified after Grantee Registration is submitted and nightly thereafter.  If an entity has a pre-qualification issue, the specific issue and remediation support is provided thru the grantee portal.  Entities on the Federal Excluded Parties List are not eligible to do business with the State of Illinois.

  4. Fiscal and Administrative Risk Assessment (ICQ)

    Entities must complete an Internal Controls Questionnaire (ICQ) as the Fiscal and Administrative Risk Assessment prior to making application for a grant.  The ICQ is completed annually in the grantee portal and all state agencies utilize results of the ICQ.  The portal provides access to prior year ICQ responses for those entities that received grants in the prior fiscal year. The ICQ should be completed by someone with financial or accounting experience.

    The status of compliance with each of the requirements described above is displayed in the Grantee Portal for each registered entity. 

    Entities must also complete a programmatic risk assessment for each grant application.  The programmatic risk assessment will be included in each electronic grant application through ISBE.

    Please direct any questions you might have related to the GATA registration and pre-qualification process to GATA@isbe.net or GATAICQ@isbe.net.

 Overview
  • Need– Fifty-two Illinois grant-making agencies with 462 grant appropriations that make up 66 percent of the state budget each had different processes, terminology, data collection protocols, and technology, resulting in varying degrees of efficacy and inefficient redundant requirements of grantees.
  • Goals – GATA drives the development of a new, statewide grant administration system. The objectives are to improve outcomes by becoming more performance-focused while increasing accountability, transparency, and efficiency across state government and the grantee community through the application of standardized processes.
  • Method – GATA adopts the federal uniform guidance (2 CFR Part 200 “super circular”) for all grants and develops supplemental rules for areas not addressed by the federal regulations. The supplemental rules were developed by approximately 15 work groups made up of representatives from state agencies and the grantee community. Implementation of GATA includes the centralization and automation of some aspects of grant administration as well as the adoption of the cognizant agency approach to assignment of responsibilities.
  • Scope – The super circular is applicable to all federal funding received by ISBE with the exception of National School Lunch Act funding, which is partially exempted. GATA is applicable to all state-funded grant programs unless exempted in whole or part by the Office of the Governor. ISBE has received exemption for some grant programs such as Evidence-Based Funding, Illinois Free and Reduced Breakfast, Mandated Categorical programs, Driver Education, Reorganization Incentives, ROE Bus Driver Training, and Tax Equivalent Grant programs.
  • Organization – GATA is administered by the Governor’s Office of Management & Budget (GOMB) with the advice of the Illinois Single Audit Commission. Each grant-making agency is required to appoint a Chief Accountability Officer who is responsible for implementation and compliance by the agency and communications with the Grant Accountability and Transparency Unit of GOMB.
  • Status – The rulemaking phase of the GATA project is complete. GOMB is now managing the development of policies and procedures, the provision of training, and the continued development of technological tools. Agencies are required to incorporate GATA provisions into existing processes as needed to ensure compliance.​

 General Guidance

 ISBE Resources

 Training Tools

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