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<bill bill-stage="Introduced-in-Senate" dms-id="A1" public-private="public" slc-id="S1-ALL25039-LKF-JL-60G"><metadata xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
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<dc:title>119 S444 IS: Federal Emergency Mobilization Accountability (FEMA) Workforce Planning Act</dc:title>
<dc:publisher>U.S. Senate</dc:publisher>
<dc:date>2025-02-06</dc:date>
<dc:format>text/xml</dc:format>
<dc:language>EN</dc:language>
<dc:rights>Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.</dc:rights>
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<distribution-code display="yes">II</distribution-code><congress>119th CONGRESS</congress><session>1st Session</session><legis-num>S. 444</legis-num><current-chamber>IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES</current-chamber><action><action-date date="20250206" legis-day="20250205">February 6 (legislative day, February 5), 2025</action-date><action-desc><sponsor name-id="S380">Mr. Peters</sponsor> (for himself and <cosponsor name-id="S373">Mr. Cassidy</cosponsor>) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the <committee-name committee-id="SSGA00">Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs</committee-name></action-desc></action><legis-type>A BILL</legis-type><official-title>To require the development of a workforce plan for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.</official-title></form><legis-body display-enacting-clause="yes-display-enacting-clause"><section section-type="section-one" id="id27367ac2-c7a8-47b8-b061-123318f4cabb" changed="not-changed"><enum>1.</enum><header>Short title</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">This Act may be cited as the <quote><short-title>Federal Emergency Mobilization Accountability (FEMA) Workforce Planning Act</short-title></quote>.</text></section><section commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id583404de-8d5b-4190-944e-0f6e6a14f763" changed="not-changed"><enum>2.</enum><header>FEMA workforce plan</header><subsection commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="idcc6b94fb-bb48-4482-8f8f-454be7545691" changed="not-changed"><enum>(a)</enum><header display-inline="yes-display-inline">Definitions</header><text>In this section:</text><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="idda1536e0-fba4-4a2f-a924-e3be3f036014" changed="not-changed"><enum>(1)</enum><header>Administrator</header><text>The term <term>Administrator</term> means the Administrator of the Agency.</text></paragraph><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id4dbb1fae-25de-47dc-a967-50f2b282ee59" changed="not-changed"><enum>(2)</enum><header display-inline="yes-display-inline">Agency</header><text>The term <term>Agency</term> means the Federal Emergency Management Agency.</text></paragraph><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="idc6e39032-0b13-406e-9e36-579a24bcb7d3" changed="not-changed"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Department</header><text>The term <term>Department</term> means the Department of Homeland Security.</text></paragraph><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="idfe1bfa22-bd1f-4581-8f0e-d85143a8601d" changed="not-changed"><enum>(4)</enum><header>Surge Capacity Force</header><text>The term <term>Surge Capacity Force</term> means the Surge Capacity Force described in section 624 of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/6/711">6 U.S.C. 711</external-xref>). </text></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="idae2a6d23-eff7-456a-bea6-a26faf503416" changed="not-changed"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Plan Development</header><text>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.</text></subsection><subsection commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id7086ce9e-07c0-45a1-b79f-f881030ef3dc" changed="not-changed"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Leading practices</header><text>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.</text></subsection><subsection id="ideb3f4575-79a2-4432-aa6d-94cdac6806d7" changed="not-changed"><enum>(d)</enum><header>Contents</header><text>The plan developed under subsection (b) shall include—</text><paragraph id="idbc2a9a53-ee38-4475-8d73-37e17505a938" changed="not-changed"><enum>(1)</enum><text>performance measures to monitor and evaluate progress towards 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 towards meeting those goals since the date of submission of the most recent plan under subsection (b), including—</text><subparagraph id="id25c29089-7189-4c15-8cb1-072525d76805" changed="not-changed"><enum>(A)</enum><text>a process to monitor and evaluate progress toward those goals;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="iddb9e8d05-c59d-45c4-94b6-aaa516b3fd69" changed="not-changed"><enum>(B)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">a discussion of why the Agency has or has not met those goals, including a description of specific barriers; and</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id76f888ac-5abe-4266-9db7-ec076e7ac7c8" changed="not-changed"><enum>(C)</enum><text>a discussion of the addition or deletion of any specific performance measures;</text></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="ida9e892bf-198b-43ac-a575-2df242fe4c96" changed="not-changed"><enum>(2)</enum><text>details of the types of employees of the Agency, including by hiring authority and cadre;</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id4c50b32a90344d469009aaa7c6388437" changed="not-changed"><enum>(3)</enum><text>a comprehensive analysis of the projected costs associated with implementing the plan;</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id3225b62d181b47f09916382a3528bda9" changed="not-changed"><enum>(4)</enum><text>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;</text></paragraph><paragraph id="idc386d5da09904f53ac26f90d8954d192" changed="not-changed"><enum>(5)</enum><text>a detailed analysis of how the Agency determined the current overall staffing goals of the Agency; </text></paragraph><paragraph id="id7419600d-e88f-4e5e-bd0e-037352b901f4" changed="not-changed"><enum>(6)</enum><text>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—</text><subparagraph id="idff7992d1-78aa-4f7a-996f-17c58bee61b4" changed="not-changed"><enum>(A)</enum><text>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;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id0e8485e8-1b3e-4373-aadf-d2d7cfb6545f" changed="not-changed"><enum>(B)</enum><text>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;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id9c28f40e-9f0e-467c-aa75-b32d33d299d0" changed="not-changed"><enum>(C)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">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</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id3a3f8434-9215-453a-b9ae-406cd7d1675f" changed="not-changed"><enum>(D)</enum><text>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);</text></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="id89236144-8566-46ab-8d02-501c4683fdaa" changed="not-changed"><enum>(7)</enum><text>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—</text><subparagraph id="id36e6de69-56fd-4260-96ba-541147403c08" changed="not-changed"><enum>(A)</enum><text>specific recruitment and retention goals by cadre and mission critical occupations, including the analysis that the Agency uses to produce those numbers;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id31252805-4f18-48b6-9335-d9664fc7eeae" changed="not-changed"><enum>(B)</enum><text>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;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id24b44ccd-607e-4126-bd01-3330b7e1139b" changed="not-changed"><enum>(C)</enum><text>specific strategies for recruiting and retaining individuals needed to address workforce gaps within specific cadres;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id2b42017f-e33d-4c41-8eb2-3ec38a4ded5b" changed="not-changed"><enum>(D)</enum><text>specific strategies for the development, training, and coordinated and rapid deployment of the Surge Capacity Force;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph changed="not-changed" commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id95bc9d96a5a34e018ddec9664ede36e3"><enum>(E)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">specific strategies for identifying, addressing, preventing, and mitigating discriminatory actions or decisions based on political affiliation; and</text></subparagraph><subparagraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="idde322e24-7a49-448d-acc0-52b12c1f9cd5" changed="not-changed"><enum>(F)</enum><text>any necessary legislative proposals to improve recruitment and retention; and</text></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="idf2bc60be-095f-4d8d-b61d-9e9c5f870e4a" changed="not-changed"><enum>(8)</enum><text>a discussion that—</text><subparagraph id="id19b9cf50-9c7a-42c5-bf37-207109f6e52c" changed="not-changed"><enum>(A)</enum><text>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; </text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id201ce4d7-6305-4365-93ae-5402ce3fa7ab" changed="not-changed"><enum>(B)</enum><text>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 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/42/5170">42 U.S.C. 5170</external-xref>, 5191) during the 3-year period preceding the date of the submission of the plan;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id4924eb76-a79a-4586-8322-4c724db4c408" changed="not-changed"><enum>(C)</enum><text>details—</text><clause commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="idfc52872d-2633-4eb6-95c5-49ad0c90fbff" changed="not-changed"><enum>(i)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">average tenure and attrition data, categorized by type of attrition, for—</text><subclause commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="idf1a73960-afd1-4472-bb17-fd83b7f2a6c1" changed="not-changed"><enum>(I)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">types of Agency employees by hiring authority; and</text></subclause><subclause commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id02a2a94f-214a-42bc-8ff5-6c1af5daebc1" changed="not-changed"><enum>(II)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">specific offices, regions, and cadres of the Agency; and</text></subclause></clause><clause commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="idca8f4638-860f-4fd4-a07b-e977051f383d" changed="not-changed"><enum>(ii)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">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;</text></clause></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id7c81cde3-c367-460f-bbd4-62e9e5d3eee1" changed="not-changed"><enum>(D)</enum><text>details—</text><clause commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id8a32dfaf-0708-4ad6-933d-fb2d3f1c175f" changed="not-changed"><enum>(i)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">efforts of the Agency to help prevent and respond to discrimination and harassment; and</text></clause><clause commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id0a0577c8-563a-4717-a59a-02c12ab9eec0" changed="not-changed"><enum>(ii)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">information on reported cases of discrimination and harassment within the Agency and the outcomes of those cases; and</text></clause></subparagraph><subparagraph id="idefb9e181-75cb-416a-932c-197665ec3990" changed="not-changed"><enum>(E)</enum><text>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—</text><clause commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id3bfee6d6-b43c-4304-a34e-c3c3b2b38f7d" changed="not-changed"><enum>(i)</enum><text>the acceptance of an offer of employment for the position by an applicant; and</text></clause><clause id="ideb5752d0-d823-4138-88d7-c8fa657d2806" changed="not-changed"><enum>(ii)</enum><text>the start date of the employee at the Agency for the position.</text></clause></subparagraph></paragraph></subsection><subsection commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id386cc5b0-ceb3-4a39-8026-2d587201a264" changed="not-changed"><enum>(e)</enum><header>Report</header><text>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—</text><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="idad8bee77-e2e3-4e93-9d52-456564bb3ef4" changed="not-changed"><enum>(1)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">analyzes whether the plan meets the requirements of this Act; and</text></paragraph><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id2954fa5e-7c00-4ad3-bd45-aec9dcd07873" changed="not-changed"><enum>(2)</enum><text>includes necessary recommendations to ensure subsequent plans meet the requirements of this Act.</text></paragraph></subsection><subsection commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id29C083F0973D43C09AE5EF22406A8361" changed="not-changed"><enum>(f)</enum><header>No new funds</header><text>No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carrying out this Act.</text></subsection></section></legis-body></bill> 

