Sen. Kaine Among U.S. Senators to Visit Puerto Rico to Survey Da
WASHINGTON (AP) - A bipartisan group of five senators will travel to Puerto Rico Saturday to survey damage from Hurricane Maria and monitor relief efforts.
The hurricane has killed at least 34 people and most residents are still without electricity.
Democratic lawmakers participating in the trip are Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Cory Gardner of Colorado will also make the trip. The Department of Homeland Security is coordinating the visit.
The government is spending almost $200 million a day for emergency hurricane response. Lawmakers in the coming weeks will likely consider a $29 billion disaster aid package to pay for recovery efforts and federal flood insurance claims.
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Related Coverage GOP files new elections complaint against Mattiello
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island legislators are proposing to make the state House of Representatives more democratic by taking some power away from its leadership.
The House is expected to vote on rules legislation Wednesday.
Democratic Rep. Jared Nunes of Coventry says he wants to require a vote before removing a legislator from a committee. It’s a response to last year’s debate over truck tolling legislation, when Democratic House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello pulled people from committee seats after they voted against tolls.
Nunes also wants to limit how late at night lawmakers can debate, and stop bills from being indefinitely held for further study without allowing them to get a vote.
But Democrats who control the rules committee didn’t include his proposed reforms, which could lead to debate Wednesday on the House floor.