Hawley: Senate will vote on standalone expansion of radiation compensation law this week

The Senate will vote this week on a standalone measure to expand and reauthorize the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) after amendments to expand it failed to pass, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told reporters on a call Monday afternoon.

The bill will come up for a vote by Friday under the terms of a unanimous agreement in the Senate, but the specific timing is at the discretion of leadership, Hawley said on the call. 

RECA, first enacted in 1990, compensates people exposed to radiation from World War 2-era nuclear testing, Cold War uranium refining and its residual effects. However, the law in its current form only covers claimants in Utah, Colorado, Nevada and Arizona between 1947 and 1961. This means both residents of New Mexico who were exposed to the effects of the 1945 Trinity atomic bomb test and Missourians exposed to nuclear waste in St. Louis’s Coldwater Creek are not covered.

The law was set to expire in 2022 before President Biden signed an executive order extending it through this June. The Hawley measure would extend the law another 19 years and expand eligibility to include Missouri, Idaho, Montana, Guam, Colorado, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alaska.

If the Senate approves the bill it would still have to pass the GOP-controlled House, but Hawley expressed confidence it would pass with bipartisan support, adding “we have every reason to believe” Biden would sign it into law.

An amendment co-sponsored by Hawley and Sens. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) previously passed the Senate as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with 61 votes. Hawley has blamed Republican leadership in both chambers for the removal of the amendment during the conference process.

Hawley also confirmed that Dawn Chapman, a leader of the group Just Moms STL, which has lobbied for the RECA expansion and accompanied him on the call, will be his guest at the State of the Union address this week.

The Missouri Republican added that he has not made a decision on who to support as the successor to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), but said the contenders’ votes on the RECA measure would play a major role in his decision.

“I can’t imagine supporting someone for the leader of my party in the Senate who is not going to be responsive to the needs of the people of Missouri,” he said.