Elmont Online

WASHINGTON -- New York's flood-damaged highways, roads and bridges will get $2 million in federal money for emergency repairs, U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced Monday. But the question of when and how much aid upstate farmers can expect remains unanswered.

While Democrats and Republicans continue to wrangle over the size of next year's federal budget, both senators as well as the Capital Region's House delegation are urging that the next spending bill contain hundreds of millions of dollars for programs that would help farmers reeling from the effects of tropical storms Irene and Lee. The current government spending bill lasts until Nov.18, and the two chambers will need to reach an agreement on another measure by that time to avoid a government shutdown.

While 31 New York counties will benefit from the $2 million in Department of Transportation money to repair washed-out roadways and damaged bridges, funding for farmers who suffered grave crop losses and severe property damage hasn't been easy to come by. A disaster funding appropriation of $3.65 billion passed by the Senate in September was killed by a coalition of Democrats who wanted more money and Republicans who wanted less, resulting in a $2.65 billion compromise that left New York lawmakers unsatisfied.

A joint legislative conference committee began meeting last week in an attempt to reconcile the 2012 budget passed by the House earlier this year with the first part of a Senate-approved budget. This "minibus" -- as opposed to an omnibus bill -- passed by the Senate last week combines Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development spending bills into one package. That package includes $126.7 million for the Emergency Conservation Program and $200.2 million for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program, two efforts which could directly help New York farmers by funding the cleanup and repair of irrigation systems, among other things.

On Friday, Schumer and Gillibrand released a statement urging the joint committee to preserve almost $3.2 billion in disaster relief included in the Senate package, including the ECP and EWP programs.

That same day, Reps. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, and Bill Owens, D-Plattsburgh, joined Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Lou Barletta in sending the committee a letter urging it to preserve the ECP and EWP funding. Rep. Chris Gibson, R- Kinderhook, has also been lobbying House leadership to include funding for these programs. Gibson has said he will support any disaster relief funding.

The committee's plan is expected next week when the House reconvenes. If it approves a report reconciling the House and Senate measures, it will need to be voted on by both chambers. Because the negotiations do not cover a final fiscal year 2012 budget, the committee could attach another temporary spending measure to the report.

House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., has said that measure would likely last until just before Christmas.