119-s1958

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1958 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 1958

 To exempt certain positions of the National Weather Service that are 
necessary for public safety from any Federal Government hiring freeze, 
 and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 June 4, 2025

 Mr. Moran (for himself and Mr. Peters) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
 Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To exempt certain positions of the National Weather Service that are 
necessary for public safety from any Federal Government hiring freeze, 
 and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Operational Resilience in 
Emergency Conditions And Storm Tracking Act'' or the ``FORECAST Act''.

SEC. 2. EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN POSITIONS WITHIN THE NATIONAL WEATHER 
 SERVICE FROM FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HIRING FREEZES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall exempt covered positions 
within the National Weather Service from any Executive order or 
memorandum imposing a hiring freeze for employees of the Federal 
Government due to the role of those positions as necessary for public 
safety in issuing weather and flood warnings, maintaining critical 
observational equipment, and protecting life and property from weather-
related hazards.

    (b) Implementation.--The Secretary shall implement the requirement 
under subsection

    (a) by not later than 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
            (c) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 
submit to Congress a report on staffing levels at the National Weather 
Service for covered positions.
            (d) Retroactive Application.--The requirement under subsection

    (a) shall negate any job offer rescinded on or after January 20, 2025, for 
a covered position.

    (e) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Covered position.--The term ``covered position'' means 
 a position of the National Weather Service in job series 1340

    (meteorology) , 1315

    (hydrology) , or 856 (electronics 
 technician), or any successor job series number.

    (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
 of Commerce.
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