In this story from today’s Bee we learn that the funding for local flood protection is moving forward, though expected opposition will arise, as the criteria for federal funding is different for each legislator.
This is the time that local congressional leaders need to be unified, and lets hope they are and remain so.
Here is an excerpt.
Opposition to levee plan is retracted
Oklahoma senator's bid faced defeat; proposed capital-area repair funds grow to $37 million.
By David Whitney -- Bee Washington Bureau Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, May 4, 2006
WASHINGTON - An Oklahoma Republican senator, facing certain defeat on an amendment to strip levee-repair money along the Sacramento River from an emergency spending bill, abruptly withdrew his measure Wednesday as California's two Democratic senators announced that another $13 million for levee work had been added to the swelling $108.5 billion measure.
The Senate was nearing completion of the spending measure Wednesday but will not finish it until today. Where it goes from there is uncertain. None of the Sacramento money is included in a less-expensive House-passed measure, and the total cost of the Senate bill exceeds by about $16 billion the threshold that President Bush has set to avoid a presidential veto.
The additional money brings to $37 million the amount of emergency funding for Sacramento-area flood work included in the package. When added to what Congress approved last fall for 2006 Sacramento-area work, total federal spending on flood control would top $78 million this year.
