White House seeks $60.4 billion in aid for Sandy

• The White House is requesting an additional $9.7 billion for flood claims

The 77-page request was sent to House and Senate leaders by Jeffrey Zients, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget. It lists projects that include $15 billion in Community Development Block Grants to help communities with rebuilding and $1.1 million for repairs at three national cemeteries in New York and New Jersey.

"Current projections are that Sandy is on track to be the second- or third-most costly natural disaster in U.S, history, behind Hurricane Katrina (2005) and close to Hurricane Andrew (1992),'' Zients said in his cover letter. "While much of this damage is covered by insurance, current estimates suggest that a significant amount of damage is not covered.''

The White House is requesting an additional $9.7 billion in borrowing authority for the federally backed National Flood Insurance Program to pay flood claims from the storm.

The $60.4 billion request includes $6.2 billion for mass transit repairs outlined by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Amtrak and New Jersey Transit. Amtrak would get an additional $32 million.

Another $3.82 billion would go to the Army Corps of Engineers for flood mitigation projects.

For the most part, the requests are not broken down by state. A $308 million request for highway repairs covers six states. And a $78 million request for restoration of wildlife refuges would go for projects stretching from Maine to Florida.

President Obama also issued an executive order establishing a Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force.

The money the White House has requested will be used to help the states "recover, repair, and rebuild better and stronger than before," the governors of New York and New Jersey said in a joint statement.

"The request is crafted to afford maximum flexibility to state governments and we will continue to work with the administration and Congress as our needs arise," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said in the statement.

Cuomo had estimated New York would need $42 billion. Christie's estimate for New Jersey was about $37 billion. Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy has estimated his state's damage at $3.2 billion.

The amount the White House will ask for is lower than the combined $82 billion sought by the three states but higher than the $50 billion figure that had circulated earlier in the week.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, who is leading the administration's response to Sandy, indicated earlier this week the White House would seek less than $82 billion because some damage costs will be covered by private insurance and others will be covered using existing federal funds.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency currently has more than $4 billion in its Disaster Relief Fund, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate told members of a Senate subcommittee earlier this week.
The White House request is a "very good start," according to a joint statement issued Friday by Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Democratic Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez of New Jersey.

"While $60 billion doesn't cover all of New York and New Jersey's needs, it covers a large percentage," the statement said. "Just as important, there is a great deal of flexibility that better allows us to help homeowners, small businesses, hospitals, beach communities, and localities rebuild, repair and protect themselves."

The senators from New York and New Jersey said they expect the emergency spending measure to be the first of several that Congress will need to enact for the Sandy recovery effort.

The budget request still must be approved by Congress, which could raise or reduce that amount.

"While more may be needed in the long term, this robust package is a major first step that we will work to pass as quickly as possible in Congress to help devastated communities, families and businesses," Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey and Republican Rep. Peter King of New York said in a joint statement.

Lowey and King head a congressional task force on the response to Sandy.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said the White House request will receive thorough consideration "with an eye toward prioritizing urgently needed recovery efforts that will have the most benefit to the victims of this storm.''