The House vote Friday on aid to Superstorm Sandy victims willonly be for raising the cap on the National Flood InsuranceProgram's borrowing authority.

And that will only occur because federal officials have toldmembers of Congress that money to pay claims for Sandy and otherstorms will run out as early as Monday, PC360 has learned.

The information was revealed in a statement late Wednesday fromDave Miller, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's associateadministrator for the Federal Insurance and MitigationAdministration, which indicated that the agency is rapidly runningout of funds.

The FEMA memo said that absent an increase in the NFIP borrowingauthority, "payments on more than 115,000 claims in states acrossthe country may be delayed until Congress increases the NFIPborrowing authority."

Miller said in the statement that use of NFIP monies "are beingclosely monitored based on actual and anticipated claims."

The House bill will propose to increase the NFIP borrowing capfrom the current $20.775 billion to $30.4 billion. That wasincluded in the request for $60.4 billion in aid sent to Congressby President Obama in early December.

According to a number of members of Congress, Boehner had agreedto act on additional Sandy aid immediately after the House vote toenact legislation averting the fiscal cliff late Jan. 1, butdecided not to early Jan. 2.

That precipitated an angry reaction from Northeast congressman,as well as New York's Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and New JerseyGov. Chris Christie, a Republican.

It was only then that Boehner agreed to the Friday vote, but didnot disclose the substance of what would be voted on.

That only came to light today.

A second House vote on Jan. 15 will be for additional aid forSandy victims.

An industry official says it is inappropriate to say that the $9billion being voted on tomorrow is actual "aid," because it is onlyauthority for the NFIP to borrow money; it is not anappropriation.

Industry officials also acknowledge that it is unclear how muchadditional support for Sandy victims the House will approve when itconsiders legislation appropriating funds for other aid sought byNortheast congressman on Jan. 15.

Jimi Grande, senior vice president, federal and politicalaffairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies,said NAMIC "welcomes" the House vote to increase the NFIP borrowingauthority, and said he would "urge the Senate to swiftly followsuit to ensure the federal government meets its obligation to tensof thousands of NFIP policyholders"

He noted that extending the NFIP borrowing authority was neveropposed by either party, "and any further delay will extend thehardships of the victims of Sandy."

At the same time, he asked both the House and Senate to add tothe bills providing additional Sandy aid provisions that would callfor improved building codes. to mitigate the damages and costs offuture natural disasters.

"Strong building codes protect property, save lives andultimately reduce taxpayer exposure to natural disasters, andCongress can encourage their use by adopting the Safe Building CodeIncentive Act as part of the Sandy relief bill," Grande says.

However, he did acknowledge that the House has not indicatedthat it will do so, and that the Senate bill passed last Friday didnot contain such language.