Obama Signs Sandy Bill Providing $50.5 Billion In Disaster Relief Into Law

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has signed into law a $50.5 billion emergency measure for Superstorm Sandy victims.

Congress gave the measure its final approval late Monday. Obama signed it Tuesday night, minutes after returning to the White House from a visit to Nevada.

It took Congress three months after Sandy devastated areas along the East Coast to approve the emergency funding. Obama scolded lawmakers for delaying recovery efforts even as he commended them for providing the long-awaited aid.

Conservatives concerned about billions in debt opposed the measure. Earlier this month, House Republicans removed unrelated spending from the bill.

The Oct. 29 storm was one of the worst to strike the Northeast and is blamed for more than 130 deaths and tens of billions of dollars in property damage.

Also on HuffPost:

Get Alerts Subscribe to the HuffPost Hill newsletter!

View the original article here

Obama Signs Sandy Disaster Declaration For Pennsylvania

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The federal government has declared a major disaster in Pennsylvania from last year's Superstorm Sandy.

President Barack Obama signed the disaster declaration Thursday. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says more disaster relief could be approved in the future if ongoing damage assessments show it's needed.

The declaration makes aid available for state and local efforts to recover from the effects of sandy between Oct. 26 and Nov. 8 of last year.

Federal funding will be available for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities. It applies to affected areas in Bedford, Bucks, Cameron, Dauphin, Forest, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, Potter, Somerset, Sullivan, and Wyoming counties.

The storm caused record outages in Pennsylvania. At its peak, 1.2 million customers in the state were without power.

Also on HuffPost:

Get Alerts

View the original article here