House Amends and Passes HR 152

This evening the House by a mainly Democratic majority (192 Democrats and 49 Republicans voting in the affirmative) passed an amended version of HR 152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013, by a vote of 241 to 180. Amendments brought the spending total to $50.7 Billion and avoided the requirement of off-setting $17 Billion of the spending with an across the board spending reduction for FY 2013.

Seven other amendments were also adopted, four defeated and one was withdrawn.

None of the amendments to the bill provided any specific relief to privately owned facilities that are under homeland security mandates by the Federal government, including facilities covered by the CFATS regulations or the MTSA regulations. The security measures at those facilities are mandated by DHS rules and regulations and are designed to protect local communities and the homeland.

Covered facilities that had their security programs damaged by Hurricane Sandy deserve some assistance in re-establishing those security measures. Perhaps the Senate will be able to address this issue when they take up HR 152 in the coming weeks.