On Tuesday, President Barrack Obama has signed a long-awaited $50.6 billion Hurricane Sandy disaster relief package, drafted by the House of Representatives and passed by the Senate earlier in the week. The package passed the Senate in a vote of 62-32.
U.S. House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY), the package’s sole sponsor, said that, “The funding in this legislation will go toward both immediate and longer-term needs in the wake of the storm, including the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund, which provides the most direct source of individual and community assistance throughout the affected region.
“The legislation will also finance critical housing and infrastructure needs, ensure repairs to damaged veterans medical facilities, and fund necessary transit repairs, small business loans, and recovery aid for businesses of all sizes.”
Three students from the Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School in Falls Church, Va., set up a bake sale to raise funds to give to the Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy relief. Photo courtesy of John Lawrence.
And the U.S. congressional feet dragging goes on! On Tuesday, the Senate received H.R. 152, the House of Representatives $50.6 billion disaster relief package for Hurricane Sandy, and the Senate did nothing but read it.
The Senate’s official legislative website recorded its actions in the follow way: “Received in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.” And we wait!
This week the U.S. House of Representatives finally passed a disaster relief package for Hurricane Sandy to the tune of $50.6 billion after months of pressure from everyone, and I mean everyone – from the states, to the Senate, and to President Obama.
Devastation to coastal properties caused by Hurricane Sandy. Photo courtesy of causecast.com.
U.S. House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY), the package’s sole sponsor, said on its passing that, “The funding in this legislation will go toward both immediate and longer-term needs in the wake of the storm, including the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund, which provides the most direct source of individual and community assistance throughout the affected region.
“The legislation will also finance critical housing and infrastructure needs, ensure repairs to damaged veterans medical facilities, and fund necessary transit repairs, small business loans, and recovery aid for businesses of all sizes.”
Rogers added that, “Included in the legislation is an amendment – offered by Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) – to provide an additional $33 billion for longer-term recovery efforts and infrastructure improvements, and for programs and projects that will help guard against damage and losses in future disasters.”
Here’s a cataloging of some of the provisions of the relief package:
Food Related Programs
$6 million to be allocated through the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for additional foods and administrative costs to assist families and individuals displaced by Hurricane Sandy.
Public Health and Social Services
$100 million to be allocated for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund for disaster response and recovery, and other expenses directly related to Hurricane Sandy, with “not less than” $25 million being transferred to the Children and Families Services Program.
A ray of hope from the dysfunctional – though the U.S. House of Representatives has been dragging its feet over the last few months in making any decisions on Hurricane Sandy relief appropriations, there is a vote pending in the House next Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013 regarding several extensive appropriation measures for long-term relief and rebuilding efforts.
Some the strongest appeals to Congress, especially to the House, to pass an appropriations package have come from New York and New Jersey – two of the hardest hit states.
Earlier this month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie sent several joint appeals (more like scathing criticism) to the House, among them saying that the “continued inaction and indifference by the House of Representatives [was] inexcusable” and that “President Obama put forth a responsible aid proposal that passed with a bi-partisan vote in the Senate while the House has failed to even bring it to the floor.”
As for the upcoming vote next week, the governors sent a joint letter to the House saying they are “trusting Congress to act accordingly on January 15th and pass the final $51 billion instrument for long-term rebuilding.”
Cataloging the damage caused by the hurricane across multiple states, Cuomo said:
Twenty-four U.S. states were in some way affected by Sandy. The storm killed at least 131 people in eight states, including at least 60 in New York, at least 35 in New Jersey, and dozens in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Connecticut, Virginia, and North Carolina combined.
Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed in our region, leading to billions in economic disruptions and losses.
Cuomo also rallied at the House that, “Every time there has been a storm or disaster even close to the size and scope of Sandy regardless of the region of the country, the House has approved billions of dollars in supplemental aid – $290 billion in total since 1989 as part of 35 separate supplemental appropriations bills. North, South, East, West, the House has always acted and acted quickly. Expect now.”
The things of science fiction are increasingly becoming a reality, and if you’re anything like me, you keep an open mind, while still being a little wary.
The testing of automated (basically robotic) self-driving vehicles has quietly been going on in California for last several years, and only within the last few months has California Governor Edmond Brown signed a bill to regulate the activity.
The state says that it encourages the continued development, testing, and operation of these vehicles on state roads, but wants to ensure that it’s done “in a safe manner.”
The new regulations which are to be adopted “as soon as practical, but no later than Jan. 1, 2015,” are basically designed hit manufacturers in the wallet to ensure that they stay careful on the roads.
The new regulations would require the manufacturers of these vehicles – whose technology has been developed by Google – to meet obligations, including:
Submitting to the Department of Motor Vehicles evidence of either insurance, surety bond, or self-insurance in the amount of $5 million.
To understand a little more about these vehicles, they use computers, sensors, and other systems to allow them to operate without “the active control and continuous monitoring of a human operator.”
January 31, 2013 
Image courtesy of aplacetoconnect.com.
