The 112th Congress adjourned without enacting supplemental appropriations to address needs related to damage caused by Super Storm Sandy. The Senate passed a supplemental appropriations bill on December 28, 2012 matching the Administration’s request (see Memo, 1/2). However, despite earlier promises to do so, House Republican leadership declined to bring the measure to a vote in the House before the end of the 112th Congress, causing considerable outrage among both Republican and Democratic lawmakers representing impacted states. In response, House leadership agreed to consider relief legislation in the first days of the new 113th Congress. On January 4, Congress approved a portion of the Sandy relief package, H.R. 41, allowing for an additional $9.7 billion in borrowing authority for the National Flood Insurance Program. The House approved the measure by a vote of 354 to 67; it then passed the Senate by a voice vote. The President is expected to sign it into law.House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has also indicated that the House will vote on the full Sandy supplemental on January 15. The Senate supplemental appropriations bill is being scrutinized by House members to determine if it includes non-Sandy relief. Whatever the House produces will have to be introduced and approved by the new Senate.Click here for the text of H.R. 41.