Bill would provide steady funding and staff for executive boards

Two senators have introduced legislation to provide centralized funding and administration of Federal Executive Boards, the regional organizations responsible for coordinating agencies' crisis response efforts.

"Federal Executive Boards provide critical support in coordinating emergency preparedness and response efforts, yet they have no institutionalized structure or permanent funding mechanism," said Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, who introduced the bill with Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio.

The boards were created in 1961 as a means for agencies outside the Washington area to work together. But they lack a congressional charter, and currently are funded by voluntary contributions from agencies. Voinovich said while the boards had functioned effectively under that structure, they need more formal support.

Akaka and Voinovich's bill would require the Office of Personnel Management to administer a central fund financing FEB operations. OPM would provide the funding for administrative and oversight work. The agencies that participate in the boards would be required to contribute to the fund according to their size. The donations would be calculated under a formula set by the OPM director in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget and the participating agencies.

In February 2008, then-OPM director Linda Springer announced that the agency had won approval for a similar funding approach.

OPM spokesman Michael Orenstein said the agency would not comment on Akaka and Voinovich's bill because the legislation was pending. Voinovich said both OPM and the Government Accountability Office were consulted on the bill's language.

Akaka held a hearing on the state of the boards in 2007 that focused on the lack of a steady, reliable stream of resources.

Kimberly Ainsworth, executive director of the Greater Boston FEB and one of the witnesses at that hearing, said Monday that she strongly supported the senators' proposal.

The legislation also sets requirements to stabilize the staffing and governance of the executive boards. OPM would have to develop a formal policy for staffing the boards, some of which have no permanent staff, and would have the power to assign agencies to detail employees to run FEBs. In return, the executive boards would have to create bylaws subject to OPM's approval, and elect chairmen to oversee their activities.