H.R. 9981: Foodborne Illness Rapid Response Act

This bill would make a narrow staffing rule for certain parts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that handle foodborne disease surveillance and foodborne illness outbreak response.

What it does

• After a multi-state or nationally significant foodborne illness outbreak, the CDC could not reduce staffing in those specific divisions for one year.
• The restriction would apply to staffing cuts of 1% or more of the total employees in each covered division within any 60-day period.
• The staffing cuts covered by the bill include formal layoffs, reductions in force, and other agency reorganizations that would reduce staff.

What counts as a covered staffing reduction

The bill defines a covered reduction broadly. It would include any agency action that removes at least 1% of employees from the CDC divisions responsible for:

• tracking foodborne diseases, and
• responding to foodborne illness outbreaks.

Practical effect

In simple terms, the bill would protect these CDC teams from being cut back right after a major food poisoning outbreak. The goal is to keep those response and surveillance units staffed during the year after a serious outbreak, so they can continue monitoring cases and responding to future incidents.

Relevant Companies

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