Lawmakers are expected to vote Tuesday on a more than $50 billion Hurricane Sandy disaster-aid package, and a Congressman from the Hudson Valley is working to ensure that such aid packages are not so delayed in the future.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner scheduled the January 15 vote, a vote that House members, namely in New York and New Jersey, states hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, thought would come to the floor before the new session, and expressed disgust when it did not. Congress did, earlier this month, approve $9.7 billion in funding for Hurricane Sandy flood insurance, but the remaining $50.3 billion dollars in disaster relief has yet to be approved. And now Democratic Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, who represents New York’s 18th district, has offered his first amendment, and it would require Congress to respond to critical disaster-relief needs within one week of a federal-disaster declaration. Congressman Maloney offered his amendment to Republican Congressman from New Jersey Rodney Frelinghuysen’s legislation, which ensures that New York and New Jersey families, businesses, and local governments are given the resources to rebuild and recover.
