H.R. 7025 — Evidence-Based Grantmaking Act

This section amends 5 U.S.C. ch. 3, subch. II, by adding §316 to require heads of 15 specified agencies (i.e., Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Justice, Labor, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; EPA; and SBA) to, for each covered grant (i.e., a grant to provide services to the public or a specific community): (1) include a clearly defined purpose and intended outcomes in any notice of funding opportunity, request for proposals, or announcement; (2) prioritize awards to applicants using evidence-based practices to achieve those outcomes, responsive to community needs, from organizations located in or representative of the served community, and in accordance with 2 C.F.R. §200.202 (or successor); (3) require recipients to use evidence-based practices in providing services; and (4) through the agency's Evaluation Officer, conduct periodic evidence-based evaluations during the grant term (adhering to Federal program evaluation standards, i.e., those in OMB Memorandum M-20-12 implementing the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018), establish an evaluation process, publicly release results, and use them to inform future funding notices. The section further requires each covered agency to submit annual reports to Congress on these activities and authorizes technical assistance to grant recipients. Finally, the section directs the OMB Director to issue guidance within one year of enactment on defining and applying "evidence-based" (with agency flexibility aligned to missions and evaluation standards), after which each covered agency must, within one additional year and following Federal Register notice and 60 days of public comment, define the term and establish a framework for identifying evidence-based applicants to prioritize awards.