H.R. 10537: Federal Emergency Mobilization Accountability (FEMA) Workforce Planning Act

This bill would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to create and regularly update a workforce plan aimed at improving how the agency hires, trains, retains, and deploys employees.

What FEMA would have to do

Within 1 year after the bill becomes law, and then at least once every 3 years after that, FEMA’s Administrator would have to submit a human capital operating plan to congressional committees. The plan would explain how FEMA is managing its workforce and how it plans to fill staffing gaps and skills shortages.

The plan would have to follow workforce “best practices” identified by the Office of Personnel Management, the Government Accountability Office, and other relevant sources.

What the plan would cover

The required plan would need to include:

• Performance measures for tracking progress on hiring, training, and filling mission-critical jobs.
• Information on FEMA’s workforce, including employee types, hiring authorities, and cadres.
• Cost estimates for carrying out the plan.
• Cost-saving strategies to reduce overhead and avoid unnecessary spending.
• An explanation of FEMA’s staffing goals and how those goals were set.
• An analysis of current staffing gaps and future workforce needs over the next 3 years, including expected retirements and other employee departures.
• A plan for recruiting, training, and retaining workers needed to fill those gaps.
• Strategies for the Surge Capacity Force, including how FEMA would train and deploy that group quickly during emergencies.
• Steps to prevent discrimination based on political affiliation in hiring and workforce decisions.
• Information about workforce deployment during disasters, employee turnover, discrimination and harassment complaints, and hiring timelines.

Oversight and reporting

After FEMA submits its plan, the Comptroller General of the United States would have 180 days to review it and send Congress a report saying whether the plan meets the bill’s requirements, along with any recommendations for future plans.

Funding

The bill does not authorize any new funding to carry out these requirements.

Relevant Companies

None found