Three months after Hurricane Sandy devastated the northeast coast, the Senate finally passed a $50.5 billion emergency relief bill, which now awaits President Obama's signature. The vote fell largely along party lines, with 9 Republicans joining 53 Democrats in the 62-to-36 vote. Another group of conservatives mounted a challenged to the bill (a similar version already passed in the House) by trying to add an amendment requiring the relief to be funded by budget cuts. "At some point, we need to make choices," said Senator Patrick J. Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican. "We can’t have everything. That’s how you get trillion-dollar deficits."
Republicans also objected to unrelated spending in the bill, such as $274 million for Coast Guard initiatives in the Bahamas and Great Lakes, the Times reports. But ultimately the amendment was defeated, and the bill passed. It's less than the $82 billion in damage relief requested by governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, but they'll take it. Some of the money will go to Housing and Urban Development Department community development block grants ($16 billion); FEMA's relief aid fund, which provides cash grants directly to storm victims ($11 billion); and repairs and upgrades to transit systems across the northeast ($10 billion).
The bill passed yesterday is in addition to a $9.7 billion flood insurance package passed earlier this month. President Obama said yesterday that he will sign the bill into law as soon as it hits his desk, and Governor Cuomo said, “To all Americans, we are grateful for their willingness to come to our aid as we take on the monumental task of rebuilding, and we pledge to do the same should our fellow citizens find themselves facing unexpected and harsh devastation.”
