[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4181 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4181

    To require the development of a workforce plan for the Federal 
                      Emergency Management Agency.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 18, 2024

Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Cassidy) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 
        towards the human capital goals, including filling staffing 
        gaps of the Agency, 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--
                    (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) 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 skills, critical and emerging, 
                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 skills 
                and competencies described in subparagraph (A);
            (4) a plan of action with specific recommendations for 
        developing and reshaping the workforce of the Agency to address 
        the gaps in critical skills described in paragraph (3)(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
            (5) 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.
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