Sponsors (13)
The bill restores NOAA staffing, data products, and funding to strengthen forecasting, disaster planning, and research—trading improved public safety and continuity for higher federal spending, reduced agency flexibility in prioritization, and the risk of short-term operational disruptions.
State and local governments and communities (urban and rural) will receive more timely and accurate weather forecasts and alerts because the bill restores NOAA staffing, programs, and forecasting capacity, improving disaster warnings and community resilience.
State and local governments, planners, and taxpayers regain public access to the Billion‑Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters dataset, restoring transparent historical cost data used for planning, resilience investments, and disaster resource allocation.
NOAA (and affected communities) will receive $6.76 billion to fund weather forecasting, satellites, climate science, and ocean/coastal monitoring, supporting improved storm warnings, fisheries/coastal planning, and sustaining research jobs and university partnerships.
Taxpayers will face higher federal spending and potential indirect costs because the bill increases NOAA funding and may require overtime, hiring bonuses, or rehiring logistics to meet staffing and program-restoration timelines.
NOAA and the Department of Commerce will have reduced managerial flexibility because the bill mandates program continuations and staffing actions, which could limit the agency's ability to reallocate resources, target funds, or pursue modernization and efficiency efforts.
Local and state planners and NOAA operations could face short-term service interruptions or workplace disruptions—e.g., dataset removal impacts, rapid rehiring disputes, or operational transition problems—that hamper situational awareness and decisionmaking.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Requires full staffing of NOAA (including NWS), reinstates certain separated employees, restores three NOAA data products, and provides $6.7563B for NOAA operations for FY ending Sept 30, 2026.
Directs the Secretary of Commerce to fully staff the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), restore specific NOAA data products and program access, and offer reinstatement to NOAA employees who were involuntarily separated between January 20, 2025 and the enactment date. It also provides a one-time appropriation of $6,756,300,000 to the Department of Commerce for NOAA operations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026.
Introduced August 19, 2025 by Joseph Neguse · Last progress August 19, 2025