Senate approves $19 billion disaster-relief bill, 85-8

Washington, D.C. – The Senate on Thursday afternoon approved a $19 billion disaster-relief bill to help several states and Puerto Rico recover from hurricanes, floods and wildfires. The vote was 85-8. The bill will head to the House, which is expected to vote as soon as possible. If passed then it would head on to the President, who is expected to sign it into law before the Holiday weekend.

• The bill passed by the Senate, has $19.1 billion in supplemental aid, an increase of $7 billion over the bill passed earlier by the House.
• For Florida this bill:
  – Provides $1.67 billion for operations & to begin rebuilding Tyndall Air Force Base 
  – $480 million for timber restoration
  – $150 million for fishery losses which Northwest Florida will be eligible for a portion of
• – $2.4 billion for CDBG Disaster Relief which HUD can use to help Northwest Florida – An extension of the National Flood Insurance Program until September 30,2019 which was about to expire at the end of this month 
• Disaster Aid bill also contains multiple provisions related to Puerto Rico: – $600 million for disaster nutrition assistance & $5 million for a study to assess the impact of this additional assistance – $304 million in CDBG fund

This is a developing story; check back for updates.

Roll Call Vote 116^th Congress – 1^st Session – On Passage of the Bill (H.R. 2157, As Amended ) 

Vote Counts: YEAs 85
                         NAYs 8
                        Not Voting 7

What’s in the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2019, also Known as Disaster relief bill? Click below to learn more.