Sandy relief vote in House likely Wednesday

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives is likely to vote on a $60-billion superstorm Sandy disaster relief package Wednesday after it was put off Tuesday by House Republicans wrangling over the Senate's "fiscal cliff" deal, lawmakers said.

In an extraordinary New Year's Day session, the Republican-controlled House Tuesday balked at the Senate-White House compromise package that the Senate passed around 2 a.m. to avert a massive tax increase and immediate large spending cuts. The House started debating the Senate bill at 9 p.m. and was expected to vote hours later.

Reps. Peter King (R-Seaford) and Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island) both said the House should take up the Sandy aid package some time Wednesday.

"It's marked and ready to go," Grimm said of the House aid package.

To pass in the House and go back to the Senate for final approval, the Sandy aid package must go through two votes -- one on a trimmed-back $27 billion bill and another on an amendment that would add $33 billion to it to match the Senate's $60.4 billion aid measure.

Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington), a member of his party's leadership, said he's concerned that the Republican-controlled House will pass the $27 billion bill, but won't approve the $33 billion amendment.

King said he's confident both the bill and amendment will pass once they get to the House floor.

"We have the votes," King said. "It's on its way."

The House bill -- sponsored by Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), the Appropriations Committee chairman -- is expected to pass easily with a large vote, lawmakers said.

But fiscal conservatives and other Republicans are expected to vote against the amendment, which was sponsored by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), part of the New York-New Jersey coalition pushing for Sandy aid.

A House Democratic aide said there would be "no room for error" because there won't be many Republicans voting for the $33 billion amendment.

As many as 30 to 40 Republican votes will be needed to join with the 190 or so Democratic votes for the entire $60 billion aid package.

The Senate then must approve whatever package is passed in the House.

Winning final approval of the House version of the aid package poses potential problems, even though the Senate passed its aid bill with 62 votes. That's because under Senate rules, it takes only one senator to block a measure from getting a vote.

The trimmed $27 billion Sandy aid bill excludes nearly all money for fortifying against future storms.

It includes $9.7 billion for federal flood insurance, $5.4 billion for public transportation systems in the New York-New Jersey corridor, $3.9 billion for community development and $1.35 billion for Army Corps of Engineers projects.

The bill also authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to release $5.4 billion in already approved disaster relief funds, at least $2 billion of which has been obligated for Sandy recovery.

Frelinghuysen introduced the amendment that would restore nearly all of the Senate funding stripped out.

But the amendment, like the Senate bill, requires that Congress cut other federal spending to pay for $3.4 billion in Corps of Engineers funding for construction projects.