FY17 STEP Proposal Training is a presentation created by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to better educate and equip employees as to the purpose, types, and management of STEP grants as it pertains to all participating subgrantees.

1. FY 2017 STEP Program
Texas Department of Transportation
Larry Krantz, Police Traffic Services Program Manager

2. Purpose of STEP grants
• Reduce fatalities on Texas roadways
• Texas leads the nation in traffic fatalities and injuries year after year
• Strategies include using grants to fund overtime enforcement for:
• Seatbelts*
• DWI*
• Speed
• Intersection Traffic Control
• Distracted Driving
• Hazardous Moving Violations (“HMV” – CMV grants only)
* - Indicates preferred element. Grant proposals including these elements will receive
preference over those not including them

3. Program elements:
• Seatbelts (OP)
• DWI
• Speed
• ITC
• Distracted Driving
• HMV
Types of STEP grants requiring formal proposal
• Yearlong (12 months)
• 1 or more elements
• Preference given to DWI and OP
• All CMVs
• WAVE (up to 6 EP’s)
• 1 or more elements
• Must work certain EPs, can select others
• Preference given to DWI and OP

4. FY 2017 Grant Proposal Timeline
Activity / Milestone Target Due Date
Submission
Request for Proposals (RFP) Posted 11/06/2015
Proposal Submission Training – STEP | General Grants 11/12/2015
Deadline for Proposal Questions 12/01/2015
Proposal Q&A Posted 12/09/2015
Deadline for Proposal Submission 01/07/2016
Scoring and Negotiations
Proposals Scored 02/17/2016
Proposal Negotiations Completed 04/15/2016
Funding Approval
Funding List and Minute Order Developed 05/01/2016
Funding Approved By Transportation Commission 05/26/2016
Award Grants
Grants Awarded, Executed and Activated in eGrants 10/01/2016

5. Types of STEP grants without formal proposal
• Click-It-Or-Ticket (CIOT)
• OP only during one specific period
• Memorial Day
• Impaired Driving Mobilization (IDM)
• DWI only during 4 specific periods
• Christmas/New Year, Spring Break, Independence Day, Labor Day
• Incentive program
• Three drawings each year for $3,000
• Memorial Day Incentive (15 winners)
• Labor Day Incentive (15 winners)
• Combined Incentive (10 winners)

7. FY 2016 CIOT grants (min. $1,000)
• Can be combined with Yearlong or WAVE grant
• No match requirement
• Funding offers to agencies begin Monday, Feb. 17, 2016
• Last day to accept funding offer is Friday, March 18
• Program finalized and submitted to TRF by Friday, March 25
• Grants ready in eGrants around April 8
• Pre-surveys April 26-28
• Pre-media May 20-22
• Enforcement May 23-June 5
• PRs due by July 8

8. FY 2017 IDM grants (min. $4,000)
• Can be combined with Yearlong or WAVE grant
• 20% minimum match
• Funding offers to agencies begin Monday, June 13, 2016
• Last day to accept funding is Friday, July 15
• Program finalized and submitted to TRF by Friday, July 22
• Grants ready in eGrants around August 5
• First enforcement period is Christmas/New Year’s, Dec. 15, 2016

9. New grant management tools available
• Grant estimation tool (Excel-based)
• Prior to grant execution
• Uses agency data to estimate:
• Overall TxDOT award, match requirement and total grant amount
• Best match options
• Enforcement mileage, citation numbers based on SEI, enforcement hours
• Administrative costs
• Helps grant administrator develop operational plan based on desired STEP
elements
• Download it here:
• http://buckleuptexas.com/grant-calculator/

10. New grant management tools available
• Grant management tools (Excel-based)
• Yearlong, WAVE, IDM grants
• Track progress, match, SEI
• Automatically adjusts pace-to-target for spending, match and SEI
• Automatically generates partial reviewer narrative based overall grant-to-date
and most recent PR and RFR
• Gets LEA and TSS on same page for monitoring, planning
• Download them here by grant type:
• http://buckleuptexas.com/grant-calculator/

11. Law Enforcement Liaison Program (LEL)
• FY 2016: A Year of Transition
• End of DD training for civilians
• Return to ‘Liaison’ functions with guidance from TSS
• Assist LEA with IDM, CIOT grant preparation
• Provide guidance for LEA-side of grant administration
• Best STEP enforcement practices
• Managing grant paperwork
• Preparing for monitoring visit, audits
• Monitoring LEA performance
• Timely reporting for PR and RFR
• Meeting match requirements
• Meeting Step Element Indicator (SEI) goals
• General problem-solving
• On-call, on-demand, and/or in-person assistance to STEP agencies

12. Subgrantee Resources
• eGrants login page
• Create user ID
• https://www.dot.state.tx.us/apps/egrants/Login2.aspx?APPTHEME=TXDOT
• eGrants Help
• Enforcement calendars
• Match guidelines
• eGrants FAQ and self-help
• https://www.txdot.gov/apps/eGrants/eGrantsHelp/index.html
• Buckle Up Texas
• Grant management tools
• Survey tools
• TCOLE accredited classes on Distracted Driving for Law Enforcement
• http://buckleuptexas.com/

13. Subgrantee Resources
• Your local Traffic Safety Specialist (TSS)
• Traffic Safety Section main office (512) 416-3175
• Your Law Enforcement Liaison (LEL)
• Ken Smith, LEL program manager, (512) 771-7256
• http://buckleuptexas.com/about/