Flood sponsors bill to boost National Weather Service staffing, classify workers as critical

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Rep. Mike Flood co-introduced a bipartisan bill on Friday intended to beef up the National Weather Service.

When skies turn dark over Nebraska, the first alerts come from the weather service.

But those alerts have been threatened by a growing problem: not enough staff.

“These vacancies started under the Biden administration, and they continued into the recent buyout of the opening months of the Trump administration,” Flood said. “And that accelerated the staffing shortages.”

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He said this is a public safety problem.

“If you think about the kind of weather we have in Nebraska, if it’s not a tornado, it’s a wildfire; if it’s not a wildfire, it’s a blizzard, or it’s softball-size hail.” Flood said. “These are life-or-death situations.”

That’s why Flood is co-sponsoring the Weather Workforce Improvement Act, which gives the agency temporary direct hiring authority.

Flood said that will help fast-track the hiring of meteorologists and scientists.

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The legislation would also make workers at the weather service critical employees, on the same level as FBI agents and air traffic controllers.

“If anything is public safety, it’s the forecasting of the weather in a state like ours,” Flood said.