Congress OKs Disaster Aid for California

Storm-damaged California will get federal help fixing roads, farms, parks and levees, as both houses of Congress approved $2.59 billion in federal disaster aid Thursday as part of an emergency spending bill that will also fund military operations in Bosnia and the Persian Gulf.

The bill earmarks about $250 million for the Golden State to use in cleaning up El Nino’s mess. Overall, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is to get $1.6 billion, which would also help the Northeast recover from ice storms, the South from tornadoes and Guam from a typhoon.

Despite an earlier veto threat, President Clinton announced late Thursday that he would sign the legislation, staving off possible layoffs of civilians at the Pentagon whose jobs are contingent on the measure’s military spending.

“On balance, we feel that the legislation is valuable because it provides funds for our troops overseas and victims of natural disasters at home,” said Linda Ricci, spokeswoman for the White House Office of Management and Budget.

But Clinton and many congressional Democrats expressed disappointment that the bill failed to include $18 million for the International Monetary Fund or $900 million in unpaid dues to the United Nations. They also expressed concern that the disaster relief was being paid for with $2.3 billion in surplus funds intended for low-income housing next year.

“What we’re voting for is to take money with one hand and distribute it to the disaster victims, and with the other hand we’re taking it away from the communities in the form of housing,” said Rep. Bruce F. Vento (D-Minn.). “This is nothing more than a pea and shell game.”

Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.) vowed to restore funding for the Section 8 housing program in next year’s appropriations bill and to deal separately with IMF funding.

“This bill should be supported for what is included in it, not be opposed for what is left out,” he told colleagues on the House floor. “These issues will get addressed, but it won’t be today.”

In the end, the bill passed the House 242-163. Late Thursday night, it passed the Senate, 88-11.

The main provisions of the bill--the funds for disaster relief and $2.86 billion for troops deployed abroad--are almost universally popular.

Details on California projects were not available, but aides to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said the state would get at least $126 million in transportation funds; $16 million for levees and harbors; and $82 million to repair military bases, among other things. The state will also get chunks of the money set aside for agriculture loans and railroad rehabilitation.

“You see the words ‘El Nino’ peppered throughout the legislation, so storm damage out there is going to get a lot of attention,” said John Raffetto, spokesman for Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

“California and some of the New England states are the main benefactors,” added Elizabeth Morra, spokeswoman for the House Appropriations Committee.

The supplemental funding bill, hammered out in recent days by House and Senate negotiators, has in past years triggered a showdown between the White House and the Republican-controlled Congress as lawmakers tried to tie disaster aid and military spending to projects Clinton opposes.