{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s979-116/featured_federal-advance-contracts-enhancement-act-1608316287.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s979-116/featured_large_federal-advance-contracts-enhancement-act-1608316287.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s979-116.png"},"introduced_on":"2019-04-02","title_override":"Should FEMA Report to Congress on its Pre-Disaster Advance Contract Process?","summary_override":"

This bill, known as the FACE Act, would direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to report to Congress on advance contracts, which are contracts established before disaster to provide goods and services in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.

The report would be required to include:

Information on recurring disaster response requirements, and
An updated strategy defining the objectives of advance contracts, explaining how advance contracts contribute to FEMA disaster response operations, maximizing the award of advance contracts to small business concerns, and assessing whether and how advance contracts should be prioritized in relation to new post-disaster contract awards.

Additionally, this legislation would define additional responsibilities for FEMA with respect to advance contracts. These responsibilities would include requiring FEMA to 1) update and implement guidance for its program office and acquisition personnel to identify acquisition planning time frames and considerations across the entire acquisition planning process, and 2) communicate the purpose and use of a master acquisition planning schedule.

This bill’s full title is the Federal Advance Contracts Enhancement (FACE) Act.

","official_title":"A bill to amend the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 to incorporate the recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office relating to advance contracts, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Federal Advance Contracts Enhancement Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Federal Advance Contracts Enhancement Act or the FACE Act This bill directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to report to Congress on advance contracts. Advance contracts are established prior to disasters to provide life-sustaining goods and services in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. The report must include (1) information required in the initial report on recurring disaster response requirements; and (2) an updated strategy that defines the objectives of advance contr...","summarized":true,"cost":2000000,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that this bill would cost $2 million to implement over the 2019-2024 period.","impact":"FEMA disaster response efforts; FEMA agency spending; and Congress.","argument_for":"Requiring FEMA to report to Congress on its use of advance contracts to build up federal readiness ahead of disaster is an important accountability measure that will help ensure that the agency uses federal funds responsibly. Updating FEMA’s advance contract strategy is an important means of ensuring that FEMA’s strategy in this area is as efficient as possible.","argument_against":"The report that this bill would require FEMA to create is a waste of time, given that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) already created a report with nine recommendations for FEMA in 2017. 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Should FEMA Report to Congress on its Pre-Disaster Advance Contract Process?