Sponsors (23)
The bill increases transparency and data-driven targeting of National Fire Academy training and funding—helping underserved departments and improving oversight—but imposes administrative and privacy burdens and risks diverting scarce training resources if not accompanied by additional funding.
Fire departments (career and volunteer) and local communities will have clearer, public information on how many personnel receive National Fire Academy training and which departments have trained staff, improving situational awareness for planning and mutual aid.
Volunteer and career staffing data will enable targeting of training and funding to underserved volunteer departments, helping direct support where it is most needed.
Congress and federal agencies will receive data on course supply, cancellations, and National Fire Academy capacity so they can better assess needs and plan resource allocation for fire training infrastructure.
Collecting and preparing the required annual data will increase administrative burden for the U.S. Fire Administration and local fire departments, potentially requiring more staff time or new systems.
Publishing identifiable lists of departments and participant counts could create privacy or reputational concerns for small departments if data are misinterpreted or used out of context.
If no additional funding is provided, preparing the mandated reports may divert limited program resources and staff time away from training delivery toward compliance activities, reducing actual training availability.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires annual congressional reporting on National Fire Academy attendance, course offerings/cancellations, and specified training fund totals.
Requires the Administrator of the U.S. Fire Administration to send Congress an annual report on National Fire Academy activities and participation. The report, beginning the first November 30 after the first full year following enactment and each November 30 thereafter, must cover the previous fiscal year and include which fire departments (with state locations) sent personnel to the Academy, counts of career vs. volunteer attendees, numbers of courses and programs offered and canceled, and dollar totals of specified training funds awarded.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by April McClain Delaney · Last progress July 23, 2025