H.R. 9037 would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within one year of enactment to develop a plan to manage the agency’s human capital needs, including measures to fill skills gaps, project costs, and evaluate performance. The bill also would require FEMA to report to the Congress on updates to that plan every three years. Finally, H.R. 9037 would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to analyze the plan and report its recommendations to the Congress within six months.
Using information from FEMA and GAO about the cost of similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $2 million over the 2025-2029 period. Most of those administrative costs would be incurred in 2025. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
On July 30, 2024, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 4181, the Federal Emergency Mobilization Accountability (FEMA) Workforce Planning Act, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on May 15, 2024. The two bills are similar, and CBO’s estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jon Sperl. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
