The Senate has approved of a $60.4 billion hurricane recovery package for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to cover some of the damage done by Hurricane Sandy this past October. Republican efforts to cut back on the amount of money given slowed down the final decision on how much money to five which then slowed down the relief efforts. The money will be given only under three circumstances. The complete package will be agreed upon on January 2. Read more below.

Julie A.

The passing of the hurricane recovery package depends on the fiscal cliff results, NY/NJ/CT areas that got hit the hardest must be fixed first, and a portion of the money must be mitigate future natural disasters. The bill was approved with a vote of 62-32 with most of the Republicans voting “no” according to the HuffPost.