CJS Bill approved funding for 2013

For months I have been preaching about protecting the National Weather Service from proposed budget cuts.  I even sent around a online petition I found to send the message to the White House and congress about this.   Today I found a story online at washingtonpost.com that basically states that a bill has been approved to shift funding for building satellites from NOAA to NASA.

Below is a part of the approved bill from today's press release, the entire document is here: Summary: FY13 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill

Bill Summary
The Subcommittee’s bill prioritizes activities that save lives, protect public safety, and foster job creation in the private sector. The Subcommittee placed a high priority on ensuring accountability of taxpayer funding and reducing duplicative activities. As a result, the Committee has chosen to make a major shift in how next generation weather satellites are purchased, shifting responsibility for satellite acquisition from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). A summary by Department appears below.

Department of Commerce – The fiscal year 2013 CJS bill provides $6.3 billion total, which is $1.5 billion below the fiscal year 2012 level.
 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – The bill provides $3.4 billion for NOAA, which is $1.47 billion below the fiscal year 2012 enacted level. The bill does not support proposed cuts to NOAA’s operations that would hurt local communities, such as eliminating local weather forecasting staff and reducing the U.S. Tsunami Warning Network. Instead, the committee finds financial savings by consolidating management offices and reducing government overhead. The bill transfers funding needed for weather satellite acquisition from NOAA to NASA, resulting in a savings of $117 million in fiscal year 2013.

Remember that the National Weather service is part of the Department of Commerce..

It is nice to see that NASA's budget is increased by $1.6 billion, to construct brand new Weather Satellites

http://www.mikulski.senate.gov/media/pressrelease/4-17-2012-3.cfm