Senate approves bill calling for better management of FEMA advanced contracts

The U.S. Senate passed the Federal Advance Contracts Enhancement (FACE) Act, which requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to more effectively manage its advance contracts for goods and services.

Specifically, the legislation requires federal preparedness actions to be coordinated with states and localities to prevent gaps in recovery efforts.

“While Florida’s nearly through another hurricane season, I am proud to see that the Senate has passed our bipartisan FACE Act,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said. “Congress must implement lessons learned from past disasters to ensure that gaps in recovery efforts are addressed and future federal response is more effective and efficient. I urge my colleagues in the House to consider this legislation quickly and send it to the president.”

The FACE Act incorporates recommendations made by the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) in its report titled, “2017 Disaster Contracting: Actions Needed to Better Ensure More Effective Use and Management of Advance Contracts.” GAO found several issues with FEMA’s handling of advance contracts, which Congress established after Hurricane Katrina to quickly mobilize resources. FEMA was forced to rely heavily on advance contracts in its response to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, as well as the 2017 California wildfires.

“Planning ahead for natural disasters can help streamline recovery efforts and save taxpayers in Michigan and across the country millions of dollars in the long run,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) said. “As a co-chair of 2019 National Preparedness Month, I’m proud to support the commonsense reforms in this bill that will help ensure communities are prepared when disaster strikes and can quickly access the resources they need for a full and swift recovery.”

The bill now moves to the House for consideration.