In an uncharacteristic display of bipartisanship, 49 Republicans joined 192 Democrats to pass a $50.7 billion Hurricane Sandy relief bill. When combined with a $9.7 billion flood insurance package passed earlier this month, the total aid still falls short of the approximate $80 billion sought by governors in the worst-hit states. And the bill passed in the House is some $10 billion less than the Senate's version of Sandy relief, passed last year. But in the words of Senator Chuck Schumer, "It is certainly close enough."
The billions will go to repair flood-damaged transit systems in New York and New Jersey, help homeowners rebuild, reinforce shorelines, reimburse local governments for emergency expenditures, and replenish FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund, which provides cash grants directly to storm victims. "It is unfortunate that we had to fight so hard to be treated the same as every other state has been treated,” Representative Peter King, a Long Island Republican, told the Times. And New York Democrat Carolyn Maloney said, “Residents have been suffering for two-and-a-half months. We need the aid. We need it now.”
Of course, the aid wasn't approved without a fight from Tea Party conservatives, who tried to add an amendment that would have required $17 billion in relief funds to be offset with across-the-board spending cuts to the 2013 federal budget. "A tragedy like Hurricane Sandy shouldn't be used for a grab-bag of spending," argued Rep. Tom McClintock, a California Republican. (No previous disaster relief bill has required offsetting spending cuts, according to The Huffington Post.) The proposed amendment, described by critics as a poison pill, was defeated 258 to 162, with 70 Republicans joining 188 Democrats.
The Senate is expected to approve the House bill.
