Senate approves $60.4 billion Superstorm Sandy aid bill

1 of 2. Clouds roll over destroyed homes, almost two months after superstorm Sandy caused damage in the region of Breezy Point of Queens borough, New York, December 27, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson

By Doug Palmer and David Lawder

WASHINGTON | Fri Dec 28, 2012 9:19pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Friday approved a $60.4 billion aid package to pay for reconstruction costs from Superstorm Sandy, which ravaged mid-Atlantic and northeastern states, after defeating Republican efforts to trim the bill's cost.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urged the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to quickly take up the bill, which includes $12 billion to repair and strengthen the region's transportation system against future storms.

"There is no time to waste," Reid said.

Both chambers have to agreed on a package by January 2, when the current term of Congress is expected to end, or restart the process of crafting legislation in 2013. The Senate approved the bill 62-32, with most Republicans voting no.

"We beat back all of the crippling amendments," said Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, which suffered the largest monetary damage in the storm.

"The century-old tradition of different parts of the country rallying to help those who are beleaguered because of difficult natural disasters continues," Schumer said.

The bill's chances in the next few days could depend on whether President Barack Obama and congressional leaders reach a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" of tax increases and spending cuts set to begin taking effect in the new year.

House Republican leaders have not yet decided whether to take up the Senate bill, a Republican aide said.

The bill also provides $17 billion in Community Development Block Grants to help rebuild homes, schools, hospitals and other buildings destroyed by the late October storm, help small businesses and improve the power infrastructure.

Senate Republicans complained the $60.4 billion reconstruction package requested by Obama is more than the annual budgets for the departments of Interior, Labor, Treasury and Transportation combined.

HOUSE ACTION UNCLEAR

Senator Dan Coats, an Indiana Republican, offered an alternative that would have provided $23.8 billion in funding to help victims of the storm through the end of March and give Congress time to determine additional needs.

"Let me just say, we simply are allowing three months for the Congress of the United States, the representatives of the taxpayers' dollars, to assess, document and justify additional expenditures that go beyond emergency needs," Coats said just before his amendment was defeated.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky, would still prefer to pass a stop-gap bill to meet immediate needs and wait to do another package after better estimates come in, a committee aide said.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated about $8.97 billion of the Senate bill would be spent in 2013, with another $12.66 billion spent in 2014 and $11.59 billion spent in 2015.

The Senate bill is considerably less than the $82 billion in aid requested by New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, the states that bore the brunt of damage from the storm.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, was in Washington this month, lobbying lawmakers for the larger amount.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund now has less than $5 billion available.

The damage to New York and New Jersey coastal areas was on a scale not seen since Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast and flooded New Orleans in 2005. Two weeks after that storm hit, Congress approved $62.3 billion in emergency appropriations.

Lawmakers passed numerous subsequent emergency funding requests over several years to cover damages from Katrina, which topped $100 billion. A number of Gulf State Republicans supported the Sandy relief bill.

Republicans were successful in requiring offsetting spending cuts for $3.4 billion in mitigation work to prevent future disasters. Some Democrats said this would set a precedent for future disaster aid bills.

(Reporting By Doug Palmer and David Lawder; editing by Todd Eastham)

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New York infrastructure faces $89 billion gap in 20 years: official

By Hilary Russ

NEW YORK | Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:42pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York State and its local governments face a shortfall of up to $89 billion for infrastructure funding over the next 20 years, the state's top financial official said on Thursday.

The collective shortfall is for transportation, water and sewer facilities throughout the state, New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a report.

New York and its cities, counties and authorities need to spend $250 billion on water, sewer and highway systems in the coming two decades, but only about $161 billion in such spending is planned, he said.

Struggling local governments have attempted to maintain their systems during the recession, he said, even while some have been hit with lowered property tax collections and increasing expenditures in other areas.

Adding to the problem are ballooning construction and energy costs, which have grown faster than the rate of capital spending, his report found.

Total capital spending by local governments has increased by more than 30 percent over the past 10 years. But fuel costs have risen 190 percent and asphalt costs 206 percent during the same period, he said.

The New York Thruway Authority on Monday selected a $3.1 billion design to replace the aging Tappan Zee Bridge, which spans the Hudson River to connect Westchester and Rockland counties north of New York City. Built in the 1950s, it suffers from corrosion and an outdated design that has failed to keep up with increased traffic.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sped up the project, which languished for a decade, by getting the legislature to enact a law allowing it to be built as it is being designed.

(Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

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Senate Republicans aim to cut Sandy aid bill down to $24 billion

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 19, 2012 10:48pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans sought to slash a $60.4 billion aid bill to cover reconstruction after Superstorm Sandy, proposing on Wednesday to fund only $23.8 billion in immediate disaster relief while assessing longer-term needs.

The far smaller initial amount is one of a number of Republican amendments aimed at cutting projects from a bill that they see as a "slush fund" loaded with questionable requests for spending on unrelated programs and big infrastructure.

Senator Daniel Coats of Indiana said his plan for $23.8 billion in initial funding would provide sufficient money for immediate needs through March 27, for work such as debris cleanup, repairing damaged equipment, rebuilding destroyed homes and businesses.

"It seems to me the most logical, responsible way to move forward is to identify the immediate needs and provide the immediate funding to meet those needs," said Coats, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

He said longer-term needs could be considered next year, as Congress works on approving new money to keep government agencies and programs funded after a stopgap measure runs out on March 27.

Senate Democrats are trying to push through President Barack Obama's full $60.4 billion Sandy disaster aid request before the end of the year.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund had about $4.3 billion as of Tuesday, but the request for new funding has become tangled up with Congress' tense talks over the year-end "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts.

"We don't have time right now to get all the way through and analyze the actual losses that were attributable to Sandy," said Republican senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, adding that the full $60.4 billion looked like a "slush fund."

KATRINA FUNDS FLOWED SWIFTLY

Democrats argue that the full funding amount is needed to ensure that local businesses, municipalities and transit agencies in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut can launch full-fledged reconstruction projects immediately with the confidence that they will be fully reimbursed. Without the money approved, there will be delays, they say.

"This amendment will unnecessarily prolong the suffering of those affected by Superstorm Sandy, and needlessly leave entire communities vulnerable to future severe weather incidents," Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said in a statement. "The whole nation will feel the economic impact of a northeast crippled by languishing transportation infrastructure, forsaken small businesses, and families left without homes."

The move would mark a significant shift from Congress' actions following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the last storm to wreak destruction on a similar scale as Sandy. Within two weeks after Katrina's storm surge flooded New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities, Congress had appropriated $62.3 billion, and storm costs eventually topped $100 billion.

"When we had the devastation in New Orleans, we got the aid to those states very quickly," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor, noting that far more people were affected by Sandy's path of destruction in a heavily populated area.

"We have to make a decision on this very, very important legislation before we leave here this week," Reid said. "I would hope that everyone would cooperate, but we have to do this."

The $23.8 billion offered in the Republican plan would be less than 30 percent of the initial $82 billion aid request made by New York, New Jersey and Connecticut earlier this month, based on early damage estimates from the October 29 storm.

The Republican plan would eliminate some $13 billion in infrastructure improvements aimed at helping to prevent damage from future storms. Among these are projects to keep New York City subway tunnels from flooding and to build sand barriers to protect some shorelines from storm surges.

It labels $5.4 billion to make transportation systems more resilient as "non-Sandy related." The Amtrak passenger rail agency, a frequent target of Republican budget-cutting efforts would get only $32 million under the bill, instead of $336 million.

Coats said such mitigation efforts were "long-term projects" that should not be immediately funded without further study.

The Republicans also aim to cut out $150 million for rebuilding fisheries, including those damaged by disasters in Alaska and the Gulf Coast. It would exclude a $58.9 million Department of Agriculture request to replant trees on private property due to "unsubstantiated" estimates for damage from Sandy.

The plan and other amendments to the Sandy aid measure are expected to be considered on Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which normally acts first on spending bills, is hanging back to see whether Senate Republicans are successful in cutting the request down to size.

Asked if he would also proceed with an amount below the $60.4 billion sought by Obama, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky, said: "Let's see what the Senate does first."

(Reporting By David Lawder; editing by Christopher Wilson)

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