As Hurricane Ian continues to threaten the east coast, President Joe Biden signed a new law to protect Federal Emergency Management Agency reservists from losing their full-time jobs when they are called to assist with disaster response.
Sens. Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat, and Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, who authored the legislation, said it would help with retention of these part-time FEMA workers.
FEMA reservists are temporary, on-call employees who can be called up during a major disaster.
The agency has a shortfall of reservists because they face difficulties in balancing FEMA duties and full-time employment, according to the senators, who noted that unlike reservists in the US military, FEMA reservists do not currently have employment protections that would ensure that their permanent, full-time jobs will still be available when they return.
“Now that President Biden has signed this commonsense, bipartisan bill into law – FEMA Reservists will no longer have to risk their livelihoods when being called up to respond to a disaster,” said Peters in a statement.
Biden touted the law Thursday from FEMA headquarters.
“And right now, if you’re in the National Guard and you get called up, you can still keep your job. But if you’re in the FEMA Reserve, that’s not the case. That’s why earlier this morning, I signed into law the bipartisan CREW Act,” he said.
“And that law will ensure that FEMA reservists have job protection just like military reservists,” Biden added.