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GOP Senators vow to trim superstorm Sandy aid to $23.8 billion

Senate Republicans have proposed an alternate disaster relief plan for states affected by superstorm Sandy, which would use $23.8 billion- rather than President Obama's proposed $60.4 billion- to fund initial relief.

鲍.厂.听聽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.

厂别苍补迟辞谤听听辞蹿听聽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聽.

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

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

罢丑别听's disaster relief fund had about $4.3 billion as of Tuesday, but the request for new funding has become tangled up with聽' 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聽听辞蹿听, 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聽,听听补苍诲听聽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.

The move would mark a significant shift from聽' 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聽聽and other Gulf Coast communities,听聽had appropriated $62.3 billion, and storm costs eventually topped $100 billion.

"When we had the devastation in聽, we got the aid to those states very quickly,"聽聽Democratic leader Harry Reid said on the聽聽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聽,听听补苍诲听聽earlier this month, based on early damage estimates from the Oct. 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聽聽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." 罢丑别听聽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聽and the聽. It would exclude a $58.9 million聽聽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聽聽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,听听颁丑补颈谤尘补苍听, a Republican from聽, said: "Let's see what the聽聽does first."