118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4181 

AN ACT 

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, 
2 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Mobilization Accountability (FEMA) Workforce Planning 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FEMA WORKFORCE PLAN. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis8 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Agency. 

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

10 Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

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

12 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

13 (4) SURGE CAPACITY FORCE.—The term 

14 ‘‘Surge Capacity Force’’ means the Surge Capacity 

15 Force described in section 624 of the Post-Katrina 

16 Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 

17 U.S.C. 711). 

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

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, and not less fre20 quently than once every 3 years thereafter, the Adminis21 trator shall develop and submit to the Committee on 

22 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen23 ate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc24 ture of the House of Representatives a human capital op25 erating plan to shape and improve the workforce of the 

26 Agency. 
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1 (c) LEADING PRACTICES.—The Administrator shall 

2 develop the plan required under subsection (b) in accord3 ance with best practices outlined by the Director of the 

4 Office of Personnel Management, the Comptroller General 

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

6 Federal workforce. 

7 (d) CONTENTS.—The plan developed under sub8 section (b) shall include— 

9 (1) performance measures to monitor and 

10 evaluate progress towards the human capital goals 

11 of the Agency, including filling staffing gaps, closing 

12 skills gaps in mission critical occupations, and imple13 menting workforce training and, if applicable, 

14 progress towards meeting those goals since the date 

15 of submission of the most recent plan under sub16 section (b), including— 

17 (A) a process to monitor and evaluate 

18 progress toward those goals; 

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

20 has not met those goals, including a description 

21 of specific barriers; and 

22 (C) a discussion of the addition or deletion 

23 of any specific performance measures; 

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

25 Agency, including by hiring authority and cadre; 
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1 (3) a comprehensive analysis of the projected 

2 costs associated with implementing the plan; 

3 (4) strategies and practices designed to increase 

4 cost-efficiency within the workforce operations of the 

5 Agency, including reducing overhead costs, improv6 ing resource utilization, and avoiding unnecessary 

7 expenditures; 

8 (5) a detailed analysis of how the Agency deter9 mined the current overall staffing goals of the Agen10 cy; 

11 (6) an analysis of the current workforce of the 

12 Agency and possible gaps in the current staffing 

13 structure of the Agency needed to fulfill the mission 

14 of the Agency, including an assessment of— 

15 (A) the critical and emerging skills that 

16 will be needed in the workforce of the Agency 

17 to support the mission and responsibilities of, 

18 and effectively manage, the Agency during the 

19 3-year period following the date of the submis20 sion of the plan, including target staffing num21 bers by cadre, region, and office; 

22 (B) the skills of the workforce of the Agen23 cy, including numbers of employees by cadre, 

24 region, and office on the date of submission of 

25 the plan; 
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1 (C) projected trends in the workforce of 

2 the Agency based on expected losses due to re3 tirement and other attrition, including any 

4 known data for the causes of attrition; and 

5 (D) the staffing levels of each category of 

6 employee of the Agency, including shortages in 

7 the workforce of the Agency and in the pro8 jected workforce of the Agency that should be 

9 addressed to ensure that the Agency has contin10 ued access to the critical and emerging skills 

11 described in subparagraph (A); 

12 (7) a plan of action with specific recommenda13 tions for developing and reshaping the workforce of 

14 the Agency to address the gaps in critical and 

15 emerging skills described in paragraph (6)(A), in16 cluding— 

17 (A) specific recruitment and retention 

18 goals by cadre and mission critical occupations, 

19 including the analysis that the Agency uses to 

20 produce those numbers; 

21 (B) specific strategies for developing, 

22 training, deploying, motivating, and retaining 

23 the workforce of the Agency and the ability of 

24 the workforce of the Agency to fulfill the mis25 sion and responsibilities of the Agency, includ-
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1 ing the program objectives of the Department 

2 and the Agency to be achieved through such 

3 strategies; 

4 (C) specific strategies for recruiting and 

5 retaining individuals needed to address work6 force gaps within specific cadres; 

7 (D) specific strategies for the development, 

8 training, and coordinated and rapid deployment 

9 of the Surge Capacity Force; 

10 (E) specific strategies for identifying, ad11 dressing, preventing, and mitigating discrimina12 tory actions or decisions based on political af13 filiation; and 

14 (F) any necessary legislative proposals to 

15 improve recruitment and retention; and 

16 (8) a discussion that— 

17 (A) details the number of employees not 

18 employed by the Agency serving in the Surge 

19 Capacity Force and the qualifications or cre20 dentials and training of such individuals; 

21 (B) includes information on annual data 

22 relating to the deployment of the workforce of 

23 the Agency following major disasters or emer24 gencies declared by the President under section 

25 401 or 501, respectively, of the Robert T. Staf-
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1 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

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

3 period preceding the date of the submission of 

4 the plan; 

5 (C) details— 

6 (i) average tenure and attrition data, 

7 categorized by type of attrition, for— 

8 (I) types of Agency employees by 

9 hiring authority; and 

10 (II) specific offices, regions, and 

11 cadres of the Agency; and 

12 (ii) any known reasons why some 

13 types of Agency employees or specific of14 fices, regions, or cadres of the Agency may 

15 have higher levels of attrition and strate16 gies to address those higher levels of attri17 tion; 

18 (D) details— 

19 (i) efforts of the Agency to help pre20 vent and respond to discrimination and 

21 harassment; and 

22 (ii) information on reported cases of 

23 discrimination and harassment within the 

24 Agency and the outcomes of those cases; 

25 and 
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1 (E) describes, with respect to hiring infor2 mation of the Agency, the time between the 

3 date on which the Agency validates a need to 

4 hire a new employee for a position and— 

5 (i) the acceptance of an offer of em6 ployment for the position by an applicant; 

7 and 

8 (ii) the start date of the employee at 

9 the Agency for the position. 

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

11 of the submission of the plan required under subsection 

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

13 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov14 ernmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

15 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep16 resentatives a report that— 

17 (1) analyzes whether the plan meets the re18 quirements of this Act; and 

19 (2) includes necessary recommendations to en20 sure subsequent plans meet the requirements of this 

21 Act. 
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1 (f) NO NEW FUNDS.—No additional funds are au2 thorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carrying 

3 out this Act. 

Passed the Senate December 17 (legislative day, December 16), 2024. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4181 

AN ACT 

To require the development of a workforce plan for 

the Federal Emergency Management Agency.