Two days before Sen. Rick Santorum introduced a bill that critics say would restrict the
National Weather Service, his political action committee received a $2,000 donation from the chief executive of AccuWeather
Inc., a leading provider of weather data.
The disclosure has renewed criticism of the measure, which Santorum, R-Pa., maintains would allow the weather
service to better focus on its core mission of getting threatening weather info out in a "timely and speedy basis."
Opponents say the bill would endanger the public by preventing the dissemination of certain weather data,
and force taxpayers to pay for the data twice. The bill would prevent the weather service from competing for certain services
offered by the private sector.
AccuWeather, based in State College, Pa., provides weather data to a variety of outlets, including media
organizations such as The Associated Press.
"I think the timing of it is what makes it so suspect," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the Citizens
for Responsibility and Ethics in Government, a Democratic-leaning watchdog group. "It's like here's the money and you're going
to do what I want."
Santorum said the $2,000 contribution, received from AccuWeather CEO Joel Myers on April 12, came during
a fundraiser in State College that happened to be two days before the bill was filed. He said he has worked on the issue for
three years.
The donation was disclosed in the April filing to the FEC by Santorum's PAC, America's Foundation.
"I don't think there's any coincidence between the two," Santorum said. "It's just that I happened to have
a fundraiser in the town he was in."
Combined, Joel Myers and his brother, Barry Myers, AccuWeather's executive vice president, have donated
more than $11,000 to Santorum and the Republican Party since 2003, according to FEC filings compiled by PoliticalMoneyLine,
a campaign finance tracking group.
Barry Myers said it was ridiculous to think there was a correlation between the "modest" donations and the
filing of the bill.
Santorum said his campaign could likely raise and spend $25 million for the 2006 election.
"We have no connection to how bills are filed, or how they are drafted or dropped at any given point in
time," Myers said.
Dan McLaughlin, press secretary for Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, which is home to the weather
service's National Hurricane Center, said the April 12 donation is suspect. Nelson has written to President Bush in opposition
to the bill.
"It certainly raises questions about motivation as to why someone would push a policy that is so obviously
crummy," McLaughlin said.
Under the proposed legislation, the weather service would be allowed to offer particular types of services
only if the private sector does not offer them, a provision similar to rules the agency was guided by for 14 years until last
year.
When the rule changed, the weather service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expanded
into areas already served by the commercial weather industry, according to Santorum's office.
In his letter, Nelson said Santorum's bill would bar weather service forecasters from giving one-on-one
interviews to media. He also said it could inhibit pilots' access to data the weather service provides to the Federal Aviation
Administration online. When four hurricanes struck Florida last year, the weather service Web site received 9 billion hits,
Nelson said.
He urged Bush to "publicly oppose this legislative attempt to push the weather service back to a pre-Internet
era and restrict the public's right to access government information"...
Santorum said critics have misinterpreted the bill's purpose. He said severe weather information would still
be released, and it would restore the old rules that were changed last year.
"The National Weather Service is not focused on it's core mission of protecting the nation's lives and property,"
Myers said. "There have been numerous examples in the last year, situations where they have not devoted the resources to that."
