Last Friday, December 28, the Senate passed by a vote of 62 to 32 a $60.4 billion emergency supplemental bill for Hurricane Sandy victims. Before passing the measure, the Senate rejected numerous amendments to the bill, including one sponsored by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that would have increased states’ share of rebuilding costs for certain maritime assets. The major components of the passed measure includes $17 billion for Community Development Block Grants (CDBGs), $9.7 billion in additional borrowing authority for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), $11.5 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund, and $10.8 billion for public transit rebuilding projects. It is unclear how the House will act with respect to the bill. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) met with representatives from states affected by Hurricane Sandy over the weekend. Some insiders say the House may choose to advance their own bill resembling the scaled-back $23.8 billion measure proposed by Senate Republicans. Alternatively, the House may bring the Senate-passed measure to the floor and amend it. At this time, however, insiders speculate that the House will not take action on the bill before the end of the session. Democrats passed the disaster aid measure using a House-passed appropriations bill (HR 1) as a legislative vehicle. If the House fails to pass the bill before the next Congress is sworn in on January 3, the Senate-passed supplemental bill will expire and the next disaster aid bill would need to be introduced in the House.

Link: HR 1