[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9037 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9037
To require the development of a workforce plan for the Federal
Emergency Management Agency.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 15, 2024
Mr. Carter of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, and
Mr. Ezell) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the development of a workforce plan for the Federal
Emergency Management Agency.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Emergency Mobilization
Accountability (FEMA) Workforce Planning Act''.
SEC. 2. FEMA WORKFORCE PLAN.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Agency.
(2) Agency.--The term ``Agency'' means the Federal
Emergency Management Agency.
(3) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Homeland Security.
(4) Surge capacity force.--The term ``Surge Capacity
Force'' means the Surge Capacity Force described in section 624
of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6
U.S.C. 711).
(b) Plan Development.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than once every 3 years
thereafter, the Administrator shall develop and submit to the Committee
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of
Representatives a human capital operating plan to shape and improve the
workforce of the Agency.
(c) Leading Practices.--The Administrator shall develop the plan
required under subsection (b) in accordance with best practices
outlined by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, the
Comptroller General of the United States, and other sources relevant to
the Federal workforce.
(d) Contents.--The plan developed under subsection (b) shall
include--
(1) performance measures to monitor and evaluate progress
toward the human capital goals of the Agency, including filling
staffing gaps, closing skills gaps in mission critical
occupations, and implementing workforce training and, if
applicable, progress toward meeting those goals since the date
of submission of the most recent plan under subsection (b),
including--
(A) a process to monitor and evaluate progress
toward those goals;
(B) a discussion of why the Agency has or has not
met those goals, including a description of specific
barriers; and
(C) a discussion of the addition or deletion of any
specific performance measures;
(2) details of the types of employees of the Agency,
including by hiring authority and cadre;
(3) a comprehensive analysis of the projected costs
associated with implementing the plan;
(4) strategies and practices designed to increase cost
efficiency within the workforce operations of the Agency,
including reducing overhead costs, improving resource
utilization, and avoiding unnecessary expenditures;
(5) a detailed analysis of how the Agency determined the
current overall staffing goals of the Agency;
(6) an analysis of the current workforce of the Agency and
possible gaps in the current staffing structure of the Agency
needed to fulfill the mission of the Agency, including an
assessment of--
(A) the critical and emerging skills that will be
needed in the workforce of the Agency to support the
mission and responsibilities of, and effectively
manage, the Agency during the 3-year period following
the date of the submission of the plan, including
target staffing numbers by cadre, region, and office;
(B) the skills of the workforce of the Agency,
including numbers of employees by cadre, region, and
office on the date of submission of the plan;
(C) projected trends in the workforce of the Agency
based on expected losses due to retirement and other
attrition, including any known data for the causes of
attrition; and
(D) the staffing levels of each category of
employee of the Agency, including shortages in the
workforce of the Agency and in the projected workforce
of the Agency that should be addressed to ensure that
the Agency has continued access to the critical and
emerging skills described in subparagraph (A);
(7) a plan of action with specific recommendations for
developing and reshaping the workforce of the Agency to address
the gaps in critical and emerging skills described in paragraph
(6)(A), including--
(A) specific recruitment and retention goals by
cadre and mission critical occupations, including the
analysis that the Agency uses to produce those numbers;
(B) specific strategies for developing, training,
deploying, motivating, and retaining the workforce of
the Agency and the ability of the workforce of the
Agency to fulfill the mission and responsibilities of
the Agency, including the program objectives of the
Department and the Agency to be achieved through such
strategies;
(C) specific strategies for recruiting and
retaining individuals needed to address workforce gaps
within specific cadres;
(D) specific strategies for the development,
training, and coordinated and rapid deployment of the
Surge Capacity Force; and
(E) any necessary legislative proposals to improve
recruitment and retention; and
(8) a discussion that--
(A) details the number of employees not employed by
the Agency serving in the Surge Capacity Force and the
qualifications or credentials and training of such
individuals;
(B) includes information on annual data relating to
the deployment of the workforce of the Agency following
major disasters or emergencies declared by the
President under section 401 or 501, respectively, of
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170, 5191) during the 3-year
period preceding the date of the submission of the
plan;
(C) details--
(i) average tenure and attrition data,
categorized by type of attrition, for--
(I) types of Agency employees by
hiring authority; and
(II) specific offices, regions, and
cadres of the Agency; and
(ii) any known reasons why some types of
Agency employees or specific offices, regions,
or cadres of the Agency may have higher levels
of attrition and strategies to address those
higher levels of attrition;
(D) details--
(i) efforts of the Agency to help prevent
and respond to discrimination and harassment;
and
(ii) information on reported cases of
discrimination and harassment within the Agency
and the outcomes of those cases; and
(E) describes, with respect to hiring information
of the Agency, the time between the date on which the
Agency validates a need to hire a new employee for a
position and--
(i) the acceptance of an offer of
employment for the position by an applicant;
and
(ii) the start date of the employee at the
Agency for the position.
(e) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
submission of the plan required under subsection (b), the Comptroller
General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a
report that--
(1) analyzes whether the plan meets the requirements of
this Act; and
(2) includes necessary recommendations to ensure subsequent
plans meet the requirements of this Act.
(f) No New Funds.--No additional funds are authorized to be
appropriated for the purpose of carrying out this Act.
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