President Barack Obama allocated $70 million for 9/11 health programs in his budget for 2010.
The money will help first responders who are sick, along with Lower Manhattan residents, students and office workers.
Under former president George W. Bush, activists frequently had to fight for funding to be included, but now “It’s a new administration and a new day for 9/11 health programs,” U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney said in a statement.
Maloney, Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Rep. Michael McMahon are still pushing for their 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which would provide more than $10 billion for healthcare and to reopen the Victims’ Compensation Fund. They hope to pass the bill this summer, before the eighth anniversary of the attacks. Obama’s New York campaign spokesperson told Downtown Express last October that the candidate supported the House bill.
