A hearing will be held Monday on a bill that would create a database of Hurricane Sandy recovery expenditures. File Photo
Legislators from throughout Queens – and the city – are throwing their support behind the “Sandy Tracker Bill”, introduced by Councilman Donovan Richards (D-Laurelton), that would create an online database of Hurricane Sandy recovery expenditures and rebuilding funds coming to the city.
Thirty-six legislators – including Council members Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), and Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills) – are co-sponsoring the bill, which would monitor billions of dollars slated to be spent on hurricane recovery efforts. A public hearing on the legislation – which, with 36 co-sponsors, is veto-proof – will be held on the 16th floor of City Hall at 1 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 2.
The push to monitor the funds comes in the wake of Sandy victims often having to wait long amounts of time to access funding to help them rebuild – and many have not seen any of the money they expected to come their way. Richards has stressed that the bill would also help to ensure that contractors who accept public money from the federal or state government would have to report the wages they are paying workers – as well as if their employees are being hired locally.
The misuse of funds meant for Sandy victims has come into question numerous times following last October’s storm, and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman released a report over the summer that said at least $238 million of the more than $575 million that was raised for Sandy relief had not been spent as of last April. The report also raised questions as to whether some of the funds reportedly spent on Sandy relief were actually used for organizational overhead or other non-Sandy related purposes.
By Anna Gustafson
