The $1.2 trillion budget package Congress passed Friday does not include an extension for the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.
The legislation — better known as RECA — compensates people who lived downwind from nuclear test sites and developed cancer as a result.
The Senate passed a bill earlier this month that would reauthorize RECA and expand benefits to cover downwinders in New Mexico, northern Utah and Arizona. It’s also the first time Mohave County and the Navajo people who worked in uranium mines would be included.
House members hoped to expedite its passage by attaching the Senate language to the budget package.
Rep. Paul Gosar, whose district contains Mohave County, called the failure to include RECA in the bill “irresponsible” in a statement.
The House still has a chance to extend RECA before the law expires on June 7.
