PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 644.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 23, 2018
Strengthening the Cooperative Observer Program Act of 2018
This bill directs the National Weather Service (NWS) to make improvements to the Cooperative Observer Program, including by:
furnishing support to state-coordinated programs relating to the program and states and regions where observations provided through the program are scarce;
working with state weather service headquarters to increase participation in the program and to add stations in such states and regions;
prioritizing the recruitment of new program volunteers; and
ensuring that integrated reporting is available for qualitative observations that cannot be automated, such as snow observations and hazardous weather events so that they can be reported and uploaded quickly and easily.
The NWS must coordinate with state and regional offices regarding the status of program stations at least every 180 days.
The NWS shall also coordinate with other federal agencies, including the Forest Service, the Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Geological Survey, in leveraging opportunities to expand the program and to more effectively use its existing infrastructure, weather stations, and staff.
People & committees
Sen. Thune, John [R-SD] · R–SD
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 644.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Thune with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 115-357.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Thune with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 115-357.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.2941 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.2941 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.2941 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.2941 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.