II 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Emergency 

5 Mobilization Accountability (FEMA) Workforce Planning 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FEMA WORKFORCE PLAN. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis10 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Agency. 


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1 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Agency’’ means the 

2 Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

3 (3) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

4 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

5 (4) SURGE CAPACITY FORCE.—The term 

6 ‘‘Surge Capacity Force’’ means the Surge Capacity 

7 Force described in section 624 of the Post-Katrina 

8 Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 

9 U.S.C. 711). 

10 (b) PLAN DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 1 year 

11 after the date of enactment of this Act, and not less fre12 quently than once every 3 years thereafter, the Adminis13 trator shall develop and submit to the Committee on 

14 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen15 ate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc16 ture of the House of Representatives a human capital op17 erating plan to shape and improve the workforce of the 

18 Agency. 

19 (c) LEADING PRACTICES.—The Administrator shall 

20 develop the plan required under subsection (b) in accord21 ance with best practices outlined by the Director of the 

22 Office of Personnel Management, the Comptroller General 

23 of the United States, and other sources relevant to the 

24 Federal workforce. 


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1 (d) CONTENTS.—The plan developed under sub2 section (b) shall include— 

3 (1) performance measures to monitor and 

4 evaluate progress towards the human capital goals, 

5 including filling staffing gaps of the Agency, closing 

6 skills gaps in mission critical occupations, and imple7 menting workforce training and, if applicable, 

8 progress towards meeting those goals since the date 

9 of submission of the most recent plan under sub10 section (b), including— 

11 (A) a process to monitor and evaluate 

12 progress toward those goals; 

13 (B) a discussion of why the Agency has or 

14 has not met those goals, including a description 

15 of specific barriers; and 

16 (C) a discussion of the addition or deletion 

17 of any specific performance measures; 

18 (2) details of the types of employees of the 

19 Agency, including by hiring authority and cadre; 

20 (3) an analysis of the current workforce of the 

21 Agency and possible gaps in the current staffing 

22 structure of the Agency needed to fulfill the mission 

23 of the Agency, including an assessment of— 

24 (A) the critical skills, critical and emerg25 ing, that will be needed in the workforce of the 


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1 Agency to support the mission and responsibil2 ities of, and effectively manage, the Agency 

3 during the 3-year period following the date of 

4 the submission of the plan, including target 

5 staffing numbers by cadre, region, and office; 

6 (B) the skills of the workforce of the Agen7 cy, including numbers of employees by cadre, 

8 region, and office on the date of submission of 

9 the plan; 

10 (C) projected trends in the workforce of 

11 the Agency based on expected losses due to re12 tirement and other attrition, including any 

13 known data for the causes of attrition; and 

14 (D) the staffing levels of each category of 

15 employee of the Agency, including shortages in 

16 the workforce of the Agency and in the pro17 jected workforce of the Agency that should be 

18 addressed to ensure that the Agency has contin19 ued access to the critical skills and com20 petencies described in subparagraph (A); 

21 (4) a plan of action with specific recommenda22 tions for developing and reshaping the workforce of 

23 the Agency to address the gaps in critical skills de24 scribed in paragraph (3)(A), including— 


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1 (A) specific recruitment and retention 

2 goals by cadre and mission critical occupations, 

3 including the analysis that the Agency uses to 

4 produce those numbers; 

5 (B) specific strategies for developing, 

6 training, deploying, motivating, and retaining 

7 the workforce of the Agency and the ability of 

8 the workforce of the Agency to fulfill the mis9 sion and responsibilities of the Agency, includ10 ing the program objectives of the Department 

11 and the Agency to be achieved through such 

12 strategies; 

13 (C) specific strategies for recruiting and 

14 retaining individuals needed to address work15 force gaps within specific cadres; 

16 (D) specific strategies for the development, 

17 training, and coordinated and rapid deployment 

18 of the Surge Capacity Force; and 

19 (E) any necessary legislative proposals to 

20 improve recruitment and retention; and 

21 (5) a discussion that— 

22 (A) details the number of employees not 

23 employed by the Agency serving in the Surge 

24 Capacity Force and the qualifications or cre25 dentials and training of such individuals; 


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1 (B) includes information on annual data 

2 relating to the deployment of the workforce of 

3 the Agency following major disasters or emer4 gencies declared by the President under section 

5 401 or 501, respectively, of the Robert T. Staf6 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 5170, 5191) during the 3-year 

8 period preceding the date of the submission of 

9 the plan; 

10 (C) details— 

11 (i) average tenure and attrition data, 

12 categorized by type of attrition, for— 

13 (I) types of Agency employees by 

14 hiring authority; and 

15 (II) specific offices, regions, and 

16 cadres of the Agency; and 

17 (ii) any known reasons why some 

18 types of Agency employees or specific of19 fices, regions, or cadres of the Agency may 

20 have higher levels of attrition and strate21 gies to address those higher levels of attri22 tion; 

23 (D) details— 


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1 (i) efforts of the Agency to help pre2 vent and respond to discrimination and 

3 harassment; and 

4 (ii) information on reported cases of 

5 discrimination and harassment within the 

6 Agency and the outcomes of those cases; 

7 and 

8 (E) describes, with respect to hiring infor9 mation of the Agency, the time between the 

10 date on which the Agency validates a need to 

11 hire a new employee for a position and— 

12 (i) the acceptance of an offer of em13 ployment for the position by an applicant; 

14 and 

15 (ii) the start date of the employee at 

16 the Agency for the position. 

17 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

18 of the submission of the plan required under subsection 

19 (b), the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

20 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov21 ernmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

22 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep23 resentatives a report that— 

24 (1) analyzes whether the plan meets the re25 quirements of this Act; and 


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1 (2) includes necessary recommendations to en2 sure subsequent plans meet the requirements of this 

3 Act. 

Æ 


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