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Congress.org presents: M E G A V O T E January 22, 2013

In this MegaVote for Georgia's 13th Congressional District:

Recent Congressional Votes -

• House: Sandy Recovery Supplemental  Substitute Amendment
• House: Sandy Recovery Supplemental  Long-term Recovery Aid
• House: Sandy Recovery Supplemental  Final Passage
• House: Disaster Aid Reform 

Upcoming Congressional Bills -

• Senate: Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013
• House: To ensure the complete and timely payment of the obligations of the United States Government until May 19, 2013, and for other purposes

Recent House Votes:

Sandy Recovery Supplemental  Substitute Amendment
http://capwiz.com/congressorg/issues/votes/?votenum=15&chamber=H&congress=1131
Vote Agreed to (327-91, 14 Not Voting)
After agreeing unanimously to the FEMA reforms, the House dove into the much thornier issue of providing actual money for Sandy victims. Conservatives on the GOP side have been arguing for months that any new spending for disaster aid should be offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget. This fact at least partly explains Speaker John Boehner's decision to cancel anticipated action before the end of the 112th Congress. The several weeks delay allowed Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers of Kentucky and fellow appropriator Rodney Frelinghuysen of Sandy-affected New Jersey to come up with legislative language and procedure that could win enough support for passage. Their proposal divided the aid into two tranches, one covering only the most immediate needs, to be offered as a substitute amendment by Rogers, and the second to take care of longer-term needs for coastal New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Conservative Republican Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina was allowed to offer an amendment to the Rogers language that would have offset its costs  about $17 billion  with a 1.6 percent cut across the rest of the federal budget. Mulvaney's amendment was rejected  though over two thirds of Republicans voting supported it  and Rogers's $17 billion language then passed with strong bipartisan support.
Rep. David Scott voted YES
Typical Boehner ineffectiveness to instill a financial relevance to spending decisions. A suggestion is made to spend money on a worthwhile situation, people recognize that money doesn't grow on trees and suggest that acts towards balancing by cutting expenditures elsewhere is rebuffed. They all wanted to be on the team that voted for the  caring thing but were also comfortable with ignoring the cost thing.  I say two things will come out of Storm Sandy situation.

1. Governor Christie will pay a political price by the way denied political support in his next election.
2. The Republicans stand an excellent chance of loosing the House if they don't start acting like adults and standing up to the cadre of spend hopers.

Sandy Recovery Supplemental  Long-term Recovery Aid
http://capwiz.com/congressorg/issues/votes/?votenum=22&chamber=H&congress=1131
Vote Agreed to (228-192, 12 Not Voting)
The Frelinghuysen amendment in support of long-term recovery efforts proved much more controversial and more difficult to pass. It provided an additional $33 billion on top of the $17 billion in the Rogers amendment. In addition to the question of spending offsets, many Republicans questioned whether the type of mitigation efforts supported by the Frelinghuysen language belonged in a disaster aid bill. That type of spending, they argue, ought to be debated as part of the regular budgetary and appropriations process. Several amendments to Frelinghuysen were adopted, among them a rescission of funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Roll Call 16) and a restriction on the use of funds in the bill to acquire new federal land (Roll Call 21). Ultimately the Frelinghuysen language was adopted, but with the support of only 38 Republicans, mostly those from the affected states and other regions that have relied on federal support for disaster recovery in the past, such as the Gulf Coast.
Rep. David Scott voted YES
Boehner is loosing his grip. I do understand that in a situation like this the government has to act and not be delayed some politician searching for something that can be delayed or removed from expenditures.  If the government took budgets seriously, like businesses, expenditures would be classified as critical and elective.  When something has to give, electives need to fall off.  Problem is that most electives are in the form of pork which no politicians wants to give up.  So you have it in the end, they vote to spend the money and then pretend like more income in the future will make the debt disappear. It's all crap. 

Sandy Recovery Supplemental  Final Passage
http://capwiz.com/congressorg/issues/votes/?votenum=23&chamber=H&congress=1131
Vote Passed (241-180, 11 Not Voting)
The final package voted on the by House consisted of the Rogers and Frelinghuysen amendments and the disaster aid reforms. Ultimately the bill provides around $50.5 billion to the areas affected by the storm. Almost all of that total is designated emergency spending, meaning it falls outside of budgetary caps established for this fiscal year by the 2011 debt ceiling agreement. The final bill did pick up a few more Republican votes, but it would not have come close to passage without near-unanimous Democratic support. The issue of whether to offset disaster aid appears certain to resurface again. Rep. Mulvaney, while lamenting defeat of his amendment, said he was nonetheless "encouraged" to receive 162 votes.
Rep. David Scott voted YES
The folks needed the help, they got it. The representatives did not want to give anything up and they didn't. Everybody is happy, except the people who long for responsible government. 

Disaster Aid Reform 
http://capwiz.com/congressorg/issues/votes/?votenum=8&chamber=H&congress=1131
Vote Passed (403-0, 26 Not Voting)
The House engaged in a multiple-step process last week in order to finally pass the bulk of an assistance package for victims of Hurricane Sandy (after passing a bill two weeks ago increasing the National Flood Insurance Programs borrowing authority). The first step was passing this bill designed to introduce efficiencies to the Federal Emergency Management  Agencys (FEMA) disaster recovery procedures. Among other things, the bill would streamline environmental reviews, reduce debris removal costs, and allow FEMA to make limited repairs to housing structures if that would be less costly than providing trailers. It would also direct FEMA to provide Congress with recommendations for reducing future recovery costs.
Rep. David Scott voted YES
Does anybody, anybody at all, think FEMA is going to ever produce a budget that saves anything.
There is never enough money, never.
To say that you are going to do that is a bald faced lie.
 
Upcoming Votes:

Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 - H.R.152
The Senate is expected to take up the House-passed disaster aid package this week.
To ensure the complete and timely payment of the obligations of the United States Government until May 19, 2013, and for other purposes - H.R.325
Republicans appear to have given up their strategy of using the debt ceiling to extract concessions from President Obama on spending and entitlements. That does not mean they plan simply to raise it, however. Their new gambit, expected to be on the floor Wednesday, would actually suspend the ceiling until May 19. Simultaneously, it would introduce a requirement that if either house of Congress does not pass a budget resolution by April 15 (as technically required by law), members of that house would not be paid until 1) a budget is passed or 2) the end of the 113th Congress, whichever occurs first.

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