Reviewing the Department of Commerce's Process for Reviewing Building a Stronger Economy (BASE) 1.0 Grants

The Rundown with Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit

The Rundown with Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit
Reviewing the Department of Commerce's Process for Reviewing Building a Stronger Economy (BASE) 1.0 Grants
May 12, 2025
Legislative Post Audit

The Department of Commerce evaluated BASE 1.0 grant program applicants using a standardized scoring rubric, but it didn’t consistently follow its process or document the Secretary’s final award decisions. The Building a Stronger Economy 1.0 grant program (or BASE 1.0) awarded almost $100 million in federal funds to Kansas entities for infrastructure development. Commerce received 445 BASE 1.0 grant applications requesting a total of about $1.7 billion. Of the $99 million Commerce awarded to 35 recipients, about half went to 10 projects in Butler and Johnson counties. Commerce reviewed applications to the BASE 1.0 grant program and determined which applicants would receive funding using 3 main steps: eligibility review, application scoring, and final selection. Commerce completed an eligibility review for all 10 applications we reviewed and eliminated 1 that wasn’t eligible. Commerce didn’t consistently follow its application scoring process for the 9 eligible applications we reviewed. We couldn’t review the Secretary of Commerce’s final award decisions because this process wasn’t documented.