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Union Calendar No. 664 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9037 

[Report No. 118–812] 

To require the development of a workforce plan for the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 15, 2024 

Mr. CARTER of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Mr. 

EZELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

DECEMBER 5, 2024 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To require the development of a workforce plan for the 

Federal Emergency Management Agency. 


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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. 

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

12 Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

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

14 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

15 (4) SURGE CAPACITY FORCE.—The term 

16 ‘‘Surge Capacity Force’’ means the Surge Capacity 

17 Force described in section 624 of the Post-Katrina 

18 Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 

19 U.S.C. 711). 

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

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, and not less fre22 quently than once every 3 years thereafter, the Adminis23 trator shall develop and submit to the Committee on 

24 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen25 ate and the Committee on Transportation and InfrastrucVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Dec 06, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9037.RH H9037

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1 ture of the House of Representatives a human capital op2 erating plan to shape and improve the workforce of the 

3 Agency. 

4 (c) LEADING PRACTICES.—The Administrator shall 

5 develop the plan required under subsection (b) in accord6 ance with best practices outlined by the Director of the 

7 Office of Personnel Management, the Comptroller General 

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

9 Federal workforce. 

10 (d) CONTENTS.—The plan developed under sub11 section (b) shall include— 

12 (1) performance measures to monitor and 

13 evaluate progress toward the human capital goals of 

14 the Agency, including filling staffing gaps, closing 

15 skills gaps in mission critical occupations, and imple16 menting workforce training and, if applicable, 

17 progress toward meeting those goals since the date 

18 of submission of the most recent plan under sub19 section (b), including— 

20 (A) a process to monitor and evaluate 

21 progress toward those goals; 

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

23 has not met those goals, including a description 

24 of specific barriers; and 


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1 (C) a discussion of the addition or deletion 

2 of any specific performance measures; 

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

4 Agency, including by hiring authority and cadre; 

5 (3) a comprehensive analysis of the projected 

6 costs associated with implementing the plan; 

7 (4) strategies and practices designed to increase 

8 cost efficiency within the workforce operations of the 

9 Agency, including reducing overhead costs, improv10 ing resource utilization, and avoiding unnecessary 

11 expenditures; 

12 (5) a detailed analysis of how the Agency deter13 mined the current overall staffing goals of the Agen14 cy; 

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

16 Agency and possible gaps in the current staffing 

17 structure of the Agency needed to fulfill the mission 

18 of the Agency, including an assessment of— 

19 (A) the critical and emerging skills that 

20 will be needed in the workforce of the Agency 

21 to support the mission and responsibilities of, 

22 and effectively manage, the Agency during the 

23 3-year period following the date of the submis24 sion of the plan, including target staffing num25 bers by cadre, region, and office; 


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1 (B) the skills of the workforce of the Agen2 cy, including numbers of employees by cadre, 

3 region, and office on the date of submission of 

4 the plan; 

5 (C) projected trends in the workforce of 

6 the Agency based on expected losses due to re7 tirement and other attrition, including any 

8 known data for the causes of attrition; and 

9 (D) the staffing levels of each category of 

10 employee of the Agency, including shortages in 

11 the workforce of the Agency and in the pro12 jected workforce of the Agency that should be 

13 addressed to ensure that the Agency has contin14 ued access to the critical and emerging skills 

15 described in subparagraph (A); 

16 (7) a plan of action with specific recommenda17 tions for developing and reshaping the workforce of 

18 the Agency to address the gaps in critical and 

19 emerging skills described in paragraph (6)(A), in20 cluding— 

21 (A) specific recruitment and retention 

22 goals by cadre and mission critical occupations, 

23 including the analysis that the Agency uses to 

24 produce those numbers; 


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1 (B) specific strategies for developing, 

2 training, deploying, motivating, and retaining 

3 the workforce of the Agency and the ability of 

4 the workforce of the Agency to fulfill the mis5 sion and responsibilities of the Agency, includ6 ing the program objectives of the Department 

7 and the Agency to be achieved through such 

8 strategies; 

9 (C) specific strategies for recruiting and 

10 retaining individuals needed to address work11 force gaps within specific cadres; 

12 (D) specific strategies for the development, 

13 training, and coordinated and rapid deployment 

14 of the Surge Capacity Force; and 

15 (E) any necessary legislative proposals to 

16 improve recruitment and retention; and 

17 (8) a discussion that— 

18 (A) details the number of employees not 

19 employed by the Agency serving in the Surge 

20 Capacity Force and the qualifications or cre21 dentials and training of such individuals; 

22 (B) includes information on annual data 

23 relating to the deployment of the workforce of 

24 the Agency following major disasters or emer25 gencies declared by the President under section 


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1 401 or 501, respectively, of the Robert T. Staf2 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

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

4 period preceding the date of the submission of 

5 the plan; 

6 (C) details— 

7 (i) average tenure and attrition data, 

8 categorized by type of attrition, for— 

9 (I) types of Agency employees by 

10 hiring authority; and 

11 (II) specific offices, regions, and 

12 cadres of the Agency; and 

13 (ii) any known reasons why some 

14 types of Agency employees or specific of15 fices, regions, or cadres of the Agency may 

16 have higher levels of attrition and strate17 gies to address those higher levels of attri18 tion; 

19 (D) details— 

20 (i) efforts of the Agency to help pre21 vent and respond to discrimination and 

22 harassment; and 

23 (ii) information on reported cases of 

24 discrimination and harassment within the 


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1 Agency and the outcomes of those cases; 

2 and 

3 (E) describes, with respect to hiring infor4 mation of the Agency, the time between the 

5 date on which the Agency validates a need to 

6 hire a new employee for a position and— 

7 (i) the acceptance of an offer of em8 ployment for the position by an applicant; 

9 and 

10 (ii) the start date of the employee at 

11 the Agency for the position. 

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

13 of the submission of the plan required under subsection 

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

15 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov16 ernmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

17 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep18 resentatives a report that— 

19 (1) analyzes whether the plan meets the re20 quirements of this Act; and 

21 (2) includes necessary recommendations to en22 sure subsequent plans meet the requirements of this 

23 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. 


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Union Calendar No. 664 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9037 

[Report No. 118–812] 

A BILL 

To require the development of a workforce plan for 

the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

DECEMBER 5, 2024 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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