(a)
(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) through (4) of this subsection, the Secretary is authorized to enter into contracts or agreements with State and local agencies to pay such State and local agencies for reasonable and necessary expenses of salary and travel incurred by employees of such agencies and an allowance for administrative expenses in accordance with the formula contained in subsection (b) of this section in
(A) rendering necessary services in ascertaining the qualifications of educational institutions for furnishing courses of education to eligible persons or veterans under this chapter and chapters 30 through 35 of this title and chapter
106 of title
10, and in the supervision of such educational institutions, and
(B) furnishing, at the request of the Secretary, any other services in connection with such chapters. Each such contract or agreement shall be conditioned upon compliance with the standards and provisions of such chapters. The Secretary may also reimburse such agencies for work performed by their subcontractors where such work has a direct relationship to the requirements of such chapters, and has had the prior approval of the Secretary.
(2)
(A) The Secretary shall make payments to State and local agencies, out of amounts available for the payment of readjustment benefits, for the reasonable and necessary expenses of salary and travel incurred by employees of such agencies in carrying out contracts or agreements entered into under this section, for expenses approved by the Secretary that are incurred in carrying out activities described in section
3674A (a)(3) of this title (except for administrative overhead expenses allocated to such activities), and for the allowance for administrative expenses described in subsection (b).
(B) The Secretary shall make such a payment to an agency within a reasonable time after the agency has submitted a report pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection.
(C) Subject to paragraph (4) of this subsection, the amount of any such payment made to an agency for any period shall be equal to the amount of the reasonable and necessary expenses of salary and travel certified by such agency for such period in accordance with paragraph (3) of this subsection plus the allowance for administrative expenses described in subsection (b) and the amount of expenses approved by the Secretary that are incurred in carrying out activities described in section
3674A (a)(3) of this title for such period (except for administrative overhead expenses allocated to such activities).
(3) Each State and local agency with which a contract or agreement is entered into under this section shall submit to the Secretary on a monthly or quarterly basis, as determined by the agency, a report containing a certification of the reasonable and necessary expenses incurred for salary and travel by such agency under such contract or agreement for the period covered by the report. The report shall be submitted in the form and manner required by the Secretary.
(4) The total amount made available under this section for any fiscal year may not exceed $13,000,000 or, for each of fiscal years 2001 and 2002, $14,000,000, for fiscal year 2003, $14,000,000, for fiscal year 2004, $18,000,000, for fiscal year 2005, $18,000,000, for fiscal year 2006, $19,000,000, and for fiscal year 2007, $19,000,000. For any fiscal year in which the total amount that would be made available under this section would exceed the amount applicable to that fiscal year under the preceding sentence except for the provisions of this paragraph, the Secretary shall provide that each agency shall receive the same percentage of the amount applicable to that fiscal year under the preceding sentence as the agency would have received of the total amount that would have been made available without the limitation of this paragraph.