Sandy flood insurance bill passes the House

WASHINGTON — A $9.7 billion bill to pay flood insurance claims from Hurricane Sandy was passed in the House on Friday with an overwhelming bipartisan majority, according to the Huffington Post.

The bill passage comes two days after New York and New Jersey officials were enraged that a much larger relief bill failed to come up for a vote before the end of the last Congress, the article stated.

According to the article, the 354 to 67 vote extends the borrowing authority of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which would have seen funds dry up next week without additional funding from Congress.

The measure will now go to the Senate, which easily approved a $60 billion Sandy aid package in late December that leaders in the Republican-controlled House declined to bring to the floor, the article noted.

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