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Budget Cuts Series: National Weather Service
In Smart Dissent's Budget Cuts Series, we are examining the White House proposed budget cuts to learn what's hidden beneath the surface and later update based on Congressional budget proposals and actions. This is our third to focus on proposals related to 2019. Since Congress never got their act together for 2018, most of Trump's proposals didn't go into effect fortunately and hopefully the same is true for 2019.
Last year, according to government figures, there were 16 "climate disaster events" with losses exceeding $1 billion each in the U.S. So the weather is something to keep an eye on, and since 1870 what's now known as the National Weather Service has been doing that. But for the last several years, it's been doing so with serious staff shortages. Now, it faces the prospect of permanent job losses.
The Trump administration wants to eliminate 355 jobs, and $75 million from the weather service budget.
The Budget Cuts Series adds this indefensible proposed cut to the series.
The employees organization represents some 2,500 weather service workers. And Daniel Sobien, president of the National Weather Service Employees Organization, says right now, 10 percent of the jobs at the service are vacant. "The straw is close to breaking the camel's back right now. That will break the camel's back."
Weather doesn't take a day off. Sobien and other regional office leadera across the nation state the offices needs to be staffed 24/7. Due to chronic understaffing already, the remaining employees log long hours, a lot of overtime and a family-work balance that is out of whack.
Sobien says some offices, including those in San Francisco and Tampa, will have to close on nights and weekends with the result there will be "really no coverage there." He added, "another office will look at the weather for them. It's a dangerous idea. They're risking peoples lives."